Fixed Rate or Floating Rate: Which Should You Choose?

Every quote on MoinCash comes in two flavours: fixed rate and floating rate. It is the one decision in the swap flow that genuinely changes your outcome, and it takes about thirty seconds to make once you understand what each option is actually promising. What a quote really is A quote is an estimate of how much of the target asset you will receive for a given amount of the asset you are sending, after the total fee percentage has been applied. Between the moment you see that number and the moment your deposit is confirmed on-chain, the market keeps moving. Fixed and floating are two different answers to the question of who absorbs that movement. How a fixed rate works With a fixed rate, the number you see is locked for the countdown displayed next to it. Your side of the deal is simple: send the exact amount shown, on the correct network, before the countdown reaches zero. Do that and the receive amount is the receive amount, regardless of what the market did in the meantime. The two words doing the work there are exact and before. A fixed rate is a commitment in both directions. If the deposit arrives short, or arrives after the countdown has expired, the original terms no longer apply, and the order falls back to the handling rules shown on the order page, which generally means processing at the rate available when the deposit lands, or a refund to your refund address. How a floating rate works With a floating rate, the quote is indicative. The final amount is set when your deposit is confirmed. If the market moved in your favour during the confirmation window you receive a little more than quoted; if it moved against you, a little less. There is no countdown to beat, which removes an entire category of mistakes, and a late deposit is simply a deposit that arrives later and gets priced then. Why the fixed rate costs more Locking a price for ten or twenty minutes is not free. Someone has to carry the risk that the market moves in the gap between the quote and the confirmed deposit, and that risk is priced into the total fee percentage you see on the fixed quote. Floating does not carry that cost, so its percentage is lower. This is not a hidden charge. Both percentages are displayed on the quote before you create an order, and both are already reflected in the amount you are shown as receiving. You are simply choosing whether to pay a little more for certainty. An example, using illustrative numbers only These figures are made up to show the shape of the trade-off. They are not a live quote and not a prediction. Suppose you are swapping 1 ETH for USDT. - A fixed quote shows roughly 3,000 USDT with a total fee of 1.0 percent and a fifteen-minute countdown. You pay exactly 1 ETH within fifteen minutes and you receive roughly 3,000 USDT. - A floating quote shows roughly 3,015 USDT with a total fee of 0.5 percent. If ETH is flat when your deposit confirms, you receive close to 3,015. If ETH drops one percent while the network confirms, you receive closer to 2,985. If it rises one percent, closer to 3,045. The floating quote starts higher because its fee is lower. Whether it finishes higher depends on the market during the confirmation window, which nobody can tell you in advance. When a fixed rate is the better choice - You are paying an exact invoice or settling an amount someone else specified. - The market is visibly volatile and you would rather not find out. - You are swapping a size where a one percent swing actually matters to you. - You are sending from a fast network and can complete the payment immediately. When a floating rate is the better choice - You are sending Bitcoin or another asset whose confirmations can take a while, so a countdown would be tight. - You want the lower fee percentage and are comfortable with a small variance. - You are moving between two assets that tend to track each other, such as two stablecoins, where the drift during confirmation is usually tiny. - You are not sure exactly when you will get to your wallet to send the deposit. What happens if the countdown expires Nothing dramatic. If you have not sent anything, the quote simply lapses and you request a new one. If you sent late, the order page shows the handling rules for that order, which cover late and short deposits and refunds to the refund address you provided. This is the single best reason to fill in a refund address even when you are confident about the timing. The practical summary Fixed rate buys certainty and you pay for it in the fee percentage. Floating rate is cheaper and hands you the market risk during confirmation. Neither is a trick, both show their full fee before you commit, and the amount you are shown as receiving already has that fee applied. If you cannot decide, ask yourself one question: would a one percent difference in the final amount bother you? If yes, fix it. If not, float it and keep the lower fee. If an order behaves differently from what you expected, note the deposit transaction hash from the order page and write to support@moin.cash.