TL;DR
- Cross-chain routers (not single bridges) now power the best swap UX: better pricing, higher fill rates, and fewer failures.
- The winning approach is multi-provider routing across THORChain, Maya Protocol, Chainflip, NEAR Intents.
- With SwapKit, wallets and DEXs plug in one SDK to reach 20+ chains and 10,000+ assets, while keeping users in-app.
- SDK v4 makes it easy to ship: runtime config updates, instant env flips, standardized extensions.
Why cross-chain swaps (and why now)
Users don’t think in chains—they think in outcomes: “Swap what I have into what I want, right now.”
Cross-chain swaps have moved from “nice to have” to table stakes because:
- Liquidity is fragmented across chains and venues.
- Narratives rotate quickly (Solana today, another chain tomorrow).
- Retention hinges on UX—if users leave your flow to bridge or hunt prices, you lose them.
Routers > Bridges (for swaps)
Bridges move assets; routers find the best execution across liquidity sources. For day-to-day swaps, routers win on:
- Execution quality: Price discovery across multiple venues (less slip, better fills).
- Resilience: If one path halts or degrades, routing fails over to another.
- Speed to finality: Picks paths with best end-to-end latency for the pair/size.
- UX: Keeps users inside your app; no chain guessing, no tab hopping.
The multi-provider approach (how SwapKit routes)
SwapKit aggregates multiple cross-chain providers so your app always has another path:
- THORChain: Native L1 pools for major pairs; strong on BTC ↔ EVM and majors.
- Maya Protocol: Similar model with different pools/routes; useful coverage across majors/long-tail.
- Chainflip: Cross-chain AMM with growing coverage; streaming swaps/DCA where supported.
- NEAR Intents: Intent-based execution with gas abstraction and fast finality; great UX profile.
You don’t have to pick one. Our router chooses per swap based on price, depth, reliability, and time-to-finality—then falls back if conditions change.
What great cross-chain UX looks like
- One flow, any chain: Users never leave your app or manage gas on a foreign chain.
- Gas-abstracted options: With NEAR Intents, users sign once; relayers handle fees behind the scenes.
- Predictable settle times: The route is chosen to minimize failure and re-tries, not just headline price.
- Smart defaults: If a provider is paused/volatile, routing avoids it automatically.
Builder checklist (so you ship the “right” version)
- Keep users in-app: No external bridge detours.
- Route across multiple providers: More routes → better execution → higher retention.
- Expose majors + long-tail: 20+ chains and 10,000+ assets—coverage wins.
- Fail gracefully: Automatic fallbacks; surface realistic ETAs.
- Measure outcomes: Track success rate, average slippage, time-to-finality, retries, and “kept in-flow” completion rate.
Integration: what it takes with SwapKit (SDK v4)
Why v4 matters
- Runtime config: Update RPCs/API keys without rebuilds or redeploys.
- Env flips: Toggle stagenet ↔ mainnet in one call for QA/demos.
- Standardized builders:
createPlugin/createWalletreduce edge cases. - Cleaner imports & toolboxes: Faster onboarding; fewer footguns.
Typical lift
- Add SwapKit SDK v4
- Enable the providers you want (THORChain, Maya, Chainflip, NEAR Intents; Jupiter for Sol-only paths)
- Expose cross-chain pairs in your swap UI (we’ll handle route selection)
Most teams ship the first working cross-chain flow in under a sprint, then iterate.
What to watch next
- More chains coming online (and being added behind one SDK).
- Streaming/intent upgrades that reduce cost/time for larger orders.
- Provider-specific improvements (fee models, gas abstraction, halt handling) that translate into better routes for your users.
The takeaway
Your users shouldn’t have to care where liquidity lives.
Give them the best route, every time—and keep them in your app.
- Want to enable cross-chain swaps with minimal lift? SwapKit SDK v4 was built for teams that ship.
- Ready to talk specifics (chains, pairs, timelines)? Book time with our team.