How we test
We test swap providers with our own money. Here's how, and what the tests can't tell you.
What we test
We swap real coins, BTC to XMR and back, with each provider every one to three days, at random times. Amounts vary between about €50 and €100. Every test uses a fresh address, so our swaps look like any other customer's.
For each swap we record the quote, what arrived, how long it took, whether we were asked for ID and, for BTC payouts, whether the coins came from a sanctioned address.
A swap's time has three parts: ordering and paying, which is ours; waiting for blocks to confirm our deposit and the payout; and the provider's part. We rank by the provider's part, from our deposit's first confirmation to its payout, because block times are nobody's doing. Every test's page shows all three, the confirmations the provider waited for, and a BTC payout's fee, flagged when it was low enough to keep us waiting.
Reading the results
Each provider's newest 10 tests are shown as a strip of frames, oldest first, and every figure in its row covers the same 10. Select a frame to see that test. You can sort providers by reliability, speed or closeness to the quote, and show one direction only.
- Paid as quoted
- Paid 0.5 to 1% less
- Minor issue
- Refunded
- Failed
- No test yet
Colour: how far under the quote it paid
- Under 0.2%
- 0.2 to 0.5%
- 0.5 to 1%
- Over 1%
One frame per test, oldest first. Tap a frame for its proof.
What tests can't show
Our coins are clean and retail-sized. A passed test means a normal swap worked. It doesn't tell you whether a provider would freeze coins that carry a compliance flag, and XMR payouts can't be screened at all.
Publishing
Nothing appears while a test is running, because that would let a provider spot it. A result is published 1 to 3 hours after the test ends, with the provider's order ID and every transaction ID so anyone can check it. When something goes wrong, we look into it first and publish within 7 days.
Pass and fail
A test fails when we're asked for ID, nothing arrives within 24 hours, the provider pays more than 5% less than quoted, or the payout comes from a sanctioned address. The provider is marked paused and moved to the end of the list until a later test passes. We keep testing it.
A test has a minor issue when the provider pays 1 to 5% less than quoted. Minor issues show as a dot on the frame and never pause a provider.
Being slow is not an issue: some providers are slower than others, and each provider's median time shows how fast a provider usually is. A test's time, the provider's part, is shown in amber when it took more than 2 times that provider's usual time in the same direction: the median of its passed tests that way, once it has 5 of them.
A test is refunded when the deposit comes back instead of a swap. It shows as a grey frame, stays out of the medians and never pauses a provider. We check every refund: one without a good reason counts as a failure.
| Version | Since | Fails if short by | Delivery limit | Time in amber past |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1 | 19 Oct | over 5% | 24 h | 2× its usual |
Who gets tested
We start with the BTC and XMR providers listed on KYCnot.me. Providers can also pay to join the random test schedule. That's all it buys. Results are always published, and providers don't choose when we test. Paid testing runs for at least six months, and the history stays up for good. Paying providers are labelled.
How we make money
Links to providers may carry our affiliate code. We never add a markup to any rate, never sell results or rankings, and never track you.
Every test costs real money. We publish the totals in What testing costs.
About
swap.gallery is a project by KYCnot.me. Test results never change KYCnot.me scores automatically.