What Is Changelly? How the Crypto Swap Service Works

Changelly connects users to liquidity from partner exchanges and market makers. Each swap runs through a single order, not through a stored account balance ². In a 2018 interview, co-founder and then-CEO Konstantin Gladych said Changelly had launched about three years earlier. Its first users came from the MinerGate mining pool, whose miners wanted to convert mined coins to Bitcoin ⁹.

The current Terms of Use (December 2024) name "Marella. and its affiliates" as the party you contract with. They apply English law and send disputes to confidential arbitration, with class actions excluded ¹. The Terms give no company registration number or registered address. The homepage footer does not name a legal entity either ⁶.

• Crypto exchange (swaps). The core product: floating-rate or fixed-rate swaps between supported coins ².
• Buy and sell (Marketplace). Changelly compares offers from third-party fiat providers that accept cards, bank transfer or Apple Pay. The provider you pick processes the payment and runs its own checks. Changelly does not sell fiat services itself ²⁶.
• DeFi (ChangellyDEX). On-chain swaps through your own wallet, under separate terms ².
• Mobile app. The Terms cover the app, and the site lists it alongside a profit calculator ²⁶.
• Business products. Exchange API, fiat on/off-ramp API, Changelly PAY for merchants, wallet integrations and an affiliate program ⁶. Many wallets embed Changelly as a swap provider. The 2022 case below involved a swap started from Ledger Live ¹⁰.
• Changelly PRO. A separate order-book exchange at pro.changelly.com. See "Changelly PRO and the Québec warning" below.

1. Pick the pair and choose floating or fixed rate.
2. Enter the receiving address for the coin you want.
3. Send the deposit to the one-time address Changelly generates.
4. Changelly converts through its liquidity partners and sends the result to your address ².

Timing rules come from the Terms ⁴:

• Floating rate. The final amount depends on the market when your deposit is processed. A payment sent to a floating-rate address more than three hours after it was issued cannot be executed.
• Fixed rate. The quoted amount is locked for 15 minutes, or 20 minutes for BTC, XMR, LTC, DCR, EOS, GAS, BNB and VET. Late deposits may not be executed and are then refunded minus fees.
• No cancellation. A submitted exchange cannot be canceled. If a swap fails, refunds usually arrive within 1–7 business days after you confirm a refund address. Deposits to a reused one-time address can take up to 20 business days ⁴.

• Floating rate: 0.25% of the amount you receive. API partners may set different fees ³.
• Fixed rate: no separate percentage. The cost of the guarantee is built into the quoted rate ³.
• Network fees for sending the payout are passed on to you. They are estimated when the order is created, and the final figure can differ ³. See network fees.
• Fiat purchases carry the chosen provider's own fees and spread, which the Marketplace shows before you pick ².
• Refunds are paid minus applicable fees and network costs. Deducting operating costs requires your prior consent ³.

Illustrative example (assumptions stated): if a floating-rate swap would return 1.0000 ETH before fees, the 0.25% fee is 0.0025 ETH, so you receive about 0.9975 ETH, minus the ETH network fee for the payout. The market rate can move before your deposit confirms, so the final figure may differ.

You can start a swap without full sign-up. However, the Terms let Changelly apply KYC to particular users, addresses or transactions and delay an exchange while it checks them ¹⁷. The AML policy (February 2022) says transactions flagged by its risk-scoring system are put on hold. Possible triggers include sudden large swaps, links to higher-risk countries, requests for "untraceable" coins and politically exposed persons ⁷. Verification may require ID, proof of address and, for enhanced checks, proof of where the funds came from, such as exchange history or mining records. Sum & Substance is named as the identity-check provider ⁷.

The homepage describes a Basic KYC tier (passport, up to €10,000 per 48 hours) and an Advanced tier with a video call for higher volumes ⁶. Accounts that fail verification can be restricted or blacklisted ⁷.

The December 2024 Terms prohibit use from the United States (including territories), the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Crimea, Cuba, the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk "People's Republics", Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, North Korea, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela and Yemen ⁵. The minimum age is 16 ¹. The homepage's "almost any country" claim is marketing. The Terms are the binding list.

Changelly does not keep deposits or balances. Funds move from your wallet to a one-time address and then on to your receiving address ². While a swap is open, though, your coins are in Changelly's hands. If the order is held for KYC, they stay there until the review ends or a refund is issued ⁷. Practical risks:

• Holds on large or flagged swaps can last until documents are accepted (see Incident record).
• Wrong address or network. Payouts cannot be canceled once sent ⁴.
• Impersonation. "Changelly toll free" searches show demand for phone support. Use only the support channels listed on changelly.com, such as [email protected] ⁶. Never share a seed phrase. See fake crypto exchange sites.

Changelly PRO is a separate trading venue at pro.changelly.com. On April 17, 2026, Québec's Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) listed "Changelly Pro" (corporate name Alqentra LLC) as not registered with the AMF and not authorized to solicit Québec investors. IOSCO's I-SCAN alert network republished the warning on April 20, 2026 ⁸. The warning concerns registration in Québec. It is not a finding of fraud. Readers in Canada should check their local regulator before using it.