Chainflip review
Native-asset swap network — up to 150 validators jointly hold vaults on each chain with threshold signatures and trade through a virtual AMM on their own chain
Key findings
Chainflip swaps native assets across chains (for example ETH on Ethereum to SOL on Solana) without wrapped tokens. Up to 150 validators jointly control vaults on every supported chain and settle trades through a just-in-time AMM on the Chainflip State Chain. Fees are a pool liquidity fee, a 0.10% network fee and destination gas, with an optional Boost fee for faster crediting. Data is still accumulating: we started sampling Chainflip directly on 31 October 2026, so this page draws no cost or ranking conclusions yet.
As of 3 Nov 2026, 10:35 UTC (run #538), Chainflip returned quotes on 11 sampled routes (42 quote rows in this packet). At $200 it was the cheapest ranked quote on 2 routes. Median cost among its non-negative $200 quotes: 32.39 bps (cheapest observed 14.00 bps). Sources reporting it: Chainflip, LI.FI. Real-money tests: none yet — planned after launch.
- 7-day coverage: rankable quotes on 11 routes in 336 of 336 runs (7,577 rows).
- Gas policy: Gas is shown per quote when the API returns it; ranking uses net received excl. gas.
- Real-money tests: none yet after launch
- Type: Native-asset swap network — up to 150 validators jointly hold vaults on each chain with threshold signatures and trade through a virtual AMM on their own chain Risk card →
Source: upswap.io snapshot #538 · CC BY 4.0 · Zenodo DOI: Example / pending
How does Chainflip work?
You send the source asset to a deposit address or vault. Validators witness the deposit; at the end of each State Chain block, swaps in the same pool and direction are bundled and filled by liquidity providers in the JIT AMM (a Uniswap-v3-style design with limit orders), then validators broadcast the payout from the destination vault using a threshold signature (Chainflip — How swapping works, Protocol overview).
With Boost, liquidity providers' collateral credits your deposit after it is first seen in a block, for an extra fee; they carry the risk until the deposit is fully confirmed (Chainflip — Boost).
Scorecard (no total score)
Cost excl. gas
Coverage
$200 wins
Quote rows
Real transfers
Upgrade / custody
How much does Chainflip cost on each route?
Over the last 7 days Chainflip's median $200 cost ranged from 15.94 bps (Solana → Ethereum SOL→ETH) to 186.53 bps (Arbitrum One → Solana USDC); it was the cheapest bridge in 199 route-runs.
| Route | n | Min | P25 | Median | P75 | Max | Cheapest runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solana → Ethereum SOL→ETH | 139 | 1.92 | 10.62 | 15.94 | 26.49 | 54.24 | 101 |
| Ethereum → Solana ETH→SOL | 146 | 0.23 | 10.58 | 16.23 | 26.45 | 70.13 | 98 |
| Ethereum → Arbitrum One ETH | 139 | 12.88 | 17.47 | 19.52 | 31.93 | 49.83 | 0 |
| Ethereum → Arbitrum One USDT | 125 | 13.31 | 17.35 | 20.80 | 41.01 | 72.35 | 0 |
| Arbitrum One → Ethereum ETH | 136 | 21.01 | 24.95 | 26.66 | 30.29 | 50.00 | 0 |
| Ethereum → Arbitrum One USDC | 139 | 27.11 | 28.33 | 28.55 | 29.50 | 39.55 | 0 |
| Arbitrum One → Ethereum USDC | 139 | 29.15 | 31.52 | 32.30 | 32.86 | 44.16 | 0 |
| Solana → Arbitrum One USDC | 328 | 27.36 | 32.46 | 61.91 | 66.05 | 69.88 | 0 |
| Solana → Ethereum USDC | 323 | 28.30 | 31.71 | 74.61 | 101.48 | 993.92 | 0 |
| Ethereum → Solana USDC | 333 | 39.67 | 43.01 | 183.27 | 189.90 | 202.08 | 0 |
| Arbitrum One → Solana USDC | 330 | 42.06 | 44.71 | 186.53 | 192.92 | 201.16 | 0 |
Where does Chainflip win at $200?
| Route | Via source | bps | Route leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum → Solana ETH→SOL | Chainflip | 14.00 | this bridge |
| Solana → Ethereum SOL→ETH | Chainflip | 14.70 | this bridge |
| Ethereum → Arbitrum One USDT | Chainflip | 15.26 | Eco 0.87 |
| Ethereum → Arbitrum One ETH | Chainflip | 18.49 | Layerswap 0.16 |
| Arbitrum One → Ethereum ETH | Chainflip | 26.83 | Eco 2.39 |
| Ethereum → Arbitrum One USDC | Chainflip | 29.32 | Eco 0.00 |
| Arbitrum One → Ethereum USDC | Chainflip | 30.48 | Eco 0.00 |
| Solana → Arbitrum One USDC | Chainflip | 32.39 | Layerswap 0.60 |
| Solana → Ethereum USDC | Chainflip | 32.46 | Across 1.00 |
| Ethereum → Solana USDC | Chainflip | 43.00 | Across 1.00 |
| Arbitrum One → Solana USDC | Chainflip | 44.18 | Across 1.40 |
What are the risks of using Chainflip?
Each item links to its source (L2Beat, DefiLlama or official docs). Items we could not verify are marked 待核实. No overall score.
Vault custody
All funds sit in vaults jointly controlled by the validator set (up to 150, permissionless, chosen by FLIP bond auctions) through threshold signatures; the validators also act as the oracle that witnesses deposits.
ChainflipSecurity incidents
12 September 2026: a malicious memo on its Tron USDT integration caused duplicate payouts totalling 736,442.17 USDT; Chainflip paused deposits and swaps, patched memo handling and made affected Tron USDT liquidity providers whole.
ChainflipChainflip
What fees does Chainflip charge?
- Liquidity fee
- 0.10%–0.15% per pool, set by the pool. Chainflip
- Network fee
- 0.10% (0.01% for internal stablecoin swaps), minimum $0.50; used to buy and burn FLIP. Chainflip
- Gas and Boost
- Deposit gas paid by you; destination broadcast fee deducted; optional Boost fee 0.05%–0.3%. Chainflip
Our Chainflip quotes come from its public API (GET /v2/quote, no key, no broker commission) and already include the liquidity, network and broadcast fees. Source-chain gas is not counted.
How did its quotes perform in our data?
Quotes for Chainflip in run #538, by the API that reported them.
| Source | Type | Routes | Quote rows | $200 cheapest | Median $200 bps | Negative-cost rows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chainflip | direct | 11 | 31 | 2 | 29.32 | 2 |
| LI.FI | via aggregator | 5 | 11 | 0 | 179.85 | 0 |
Negative-cost quotes (receiving more than you send) are listed, never ranked. Cost excludes source-chain gas.
Has upswap tested it with real money?
Not yet. Real-money tests are planned after launch; no test wallets or transactions are published yet.
What are the pros and cons?
Pros
- Native assets on both sides, including cross-asset routes such as ETH → SOL.
- Same-block bundling of swaps limits front-running.
- Fees are published per type.
Cons
- The $0.50 minimum network fee weighs on small transfers.
- Funds depend on the validator set's threshold key.
- September 2026 Tron USDT duplicate-payout incident.
Who is Chainflip for?
Data is accumulating (direct sampling since 31 Oct 2026). Mainly relevant for routes involving Solana or swaps between different native assets.
Has it been hacked?
No incident linked in our incident library.
Which official links are verified?
What is still unverified?
- 待核实 A second, independent source for the September 2026 Tron USDT incident figures.
- 待核实 The signing threshold of the current validator set (the whitepaper describes 100 of 150).
- 待核实 BSC USDT is listed in the official asset table but our quote requests for it are refused ('Requested assets cannot be swapped').
Sources
- How swapping works — Chainflip · Docs · checked
- Protocol overview — Chainflip · Docs · checked
- Boost swaps — Chainflip · Docs · checked
- Chains & assets — Chainflip · Docs · checked
- Incident report: Tron USDT exploit — Chainflip · Official · checked
- Proposal 008 passed: making Tron USDT LPs whole — Chainflip · Official · checked
Changelog
- — Draft review written from Chainflip docs and incident reports.
How do I cite this page?
Burn, A. / upswap.io (2026). Chainflip review. Updated 2026-10-31. https://upswap.io/bridges/chainflip#summary. CC BY 4.0. Accessed ____.
Stable anchors: #summary #type #risk #fee-structure #performance #tests #pros-cons #fit #incidents #official #sources #changelog #disclosure #cite