One Choice Shapes SimpleSwap's Safety Model
One architectural choice shapes everything below: SimpleSwap never holds a standing balance of user funds. Here's what that means in practice, from routing to account verification.
The Self-Custodial Model
What self-custody actually removes, and what it leaves with you.
What it removes
- No long-term balance held on the platform between swaps
- No exchange-style custody risk if the platform were ever compromised
- SimpleSwap never manages or stores your private keys
What stays with you
- Wallet address accuracy, since a confirmed transaction can't be recalled
- Network selection, since one asset can live on more than one chain
- Seed phrase and private key security, always
The Wallet-to-Wallet Journey
Three moves, each with a different party responsible.
You send
Crypto leaves a wallet you own, to the unique deposit address generated for that swap.
SimpleSwap routes
The swap is matched across 20+ CEX and DEX liquidity providers for the best available fill.
The network confirms
Confirmation time depends on the blockchain involved, not on SimpleSwap.
You receive
The converted asset lands at the receiving address you provided and verified.
Where Account Verification Applies
Most swaps need none of this at all; three narrower cases pull in an ID check.
Default
Most swaps
No account, no ID. Choose a pair, send the deposit, receive the converted asset.
Card or bank
Fiat purchases
Routed through a payment partner (Mercuryo, Simplex, Guardarian and others), which applies its own KYC checks.
Case by case
Flagged transactions
A specific swap can be paused if screening flags something in its history, even if you weren't involved in what triggered it. More on what that looks like below.
Optional
Verifying ahead
ID plus a live face check at simpleswap.io/kyc, done in advance if you'd rather have it out of the way.
When a Swap Actually Gets Paused
Most exchanges process automatically; this only applies to the case-by-case scenario above.
A pause isn't an accusation. It usually means something in the funds' history, not necessarily the current transaction, needs clarifying before the swap continues.
SimpleSwap may ask for source-of-funds details or supporting documents; it will not ask for wallet keys.
A repeat request usually means the first answer didn't fully cover the question, not that the case is being drawn out deliberately.
The most direct way through it: respond with what's asked for, through the official support channel.
One More Thing the Account Gives You
Verification, as described above, is something the service asks of you in specific situations. Address Check runs the other way round: it is a tool the Customer Account hands you, for asking a question about somebody else. Paste a wallet address, pick its network, and it is screened against sanctions lists and other risk categories, returning a risk level along with the connections that produced it.
Is this the address I meant to paste? That one is answered by careful reading and a test transfer, and it protects you from your own mistakes.
What has this address been involved in? Nothing about the string itself reveals that. Its history does, and history is what the screening looks at.
It matters in both directions. Sending to someone new — a marketplace seller, an OTC contact — you are trusting an address you cannot read. Accepting funds, you inherit where they have been: coins routed through a sanctioned entity or a known exploit earlier in their life can attract questions at the next service that touches them, however clean your own part was.
Checks are metered per month by Loyalty tier, and every check is filed in a searchable history so an address can be revisited later:
| Loyalty level | Checks per month |
|---|---|
| Bronze | 5 checks |
| Silver | 10 checks |
| Gold | 15 checks |
| Platinum | 25 checks |
Everyone who registers starts at Bronze; the remaining count sits under the input field and resets monthly.
See the live routing in action
Current pairs, rates and liquidity are on the official site.