·11 min de lecture
Cheapest Bitcoin Bridges for Native BTC: Fees and Speed Compared
Pankaj Dalmia
Community
We compared quotes from BOB Gateway, Garden Finance, THORChain, NEAR Intents and Relay on five native BTC swaps and compared each quote on output and arrival time.
The lowest fee isn't always the best deal. Every bridge prices a swap differently, through some mix of solver spread, liquidity fee, protocol fee and destination gas. The number that tells you what you're getting is the quoted output: how much lands in your wallet.
So we tested it. On 14 September 2026, we requested quotes for five native BTC routes from BOB Gateway, Garden Finance, THORChain, NEAR Intents and Relay. BOB Gateway returned the highest output in four of the five tests and came within 1.3 basis points of the best quote in the fifth.
Looking for the bigger picture on custody and chain coverage? Start with our guide to the best Bitcoin bridges for native BTC.
Key takeaways
- BOB Gateway gave the best quote in 4 of 5 tests and trailed Garden Finance by 1.3 bps in the fifth.
- Average gap from the best quote: BOB Gateway 0.3 bps, Garden Finance 5.0 bps, THORChain 9.1 bps, NEAR Intents 23.0 bps and Relay 67.9 bps.
- On 1 BTC to USDT, Relay quoted 529.30 USDT less than BOB Gateway, the biggest gap we saw.
- The winner changed with trade size. THORChain came second at 0.01 BTC, Garden Finance won at 0.1 BTC, and BOB Gateway led all three 1 BTC tests.
- Gateway quotes a guaranteed minimum output, fixed before you send BTC, with gas, solver and routing costs already included.
- A BTC to USDT swap through BOB Gateway typically arrives in about 10 minutes.
Contents
- Which Bitcoin bridge has the lowest fees for native BTC?
- How we tested
- The results
- What the gap looks like on 1 BTC
- Does trade size change the winner?
- How BOB Gateway fees compare with Garden, THORChain, NEAR Intents and Relay
- Which bridges lock your quote before you send BTC?
- How fast are native BTC bridge transfers?
- Which Bitcoin bridge should you choose?
- Frequently asked questions
- Get a live quote on BOB Gateway
Which Bitcoin bridge has the lowest fees for native BTC?
Headline fees are hard to compare because each protocol bundles its costs differently:
- BOB Gateway: swaps in the BOB app carry a route-based fee already built into the quoted rate, with lower rates for VIP users.
- THORChain: the fee scales with trade size relative to pool depth.
- Garden Finance: no separate fee on top of the solver's quote.
- NEAR Intents: the 1Click API charges a platform fee on unauthenticated requests, which integrators can reduce with an API key.
- Relay: the quote bundles gas, a relayer service fee and a relayer gas fee.
In our five tests, BOB Gateway gave the best quote four times. The exception was a 0.1 BTC to USDT trade, where Garden Finance came out 1.3 bps ahead.
How we tested
On 14 September 2026, we requested quotes for the same five native BTC routes from each protocol at the same time, and recorded the output each one returned.
The five routes from Bitcoin to Ethereum mainnet:
- 0.01 BTC to USDT
- 0.1 BTC to USDT
- 1 BTC to USDT
- 1 BTC to ETH
- 1 BTC to USDC
For each route, the highest output is the best quote. We measure every other protocol's gap from it in basis points (bps): the best output minus that protocol's output, divided by the best output, multiplied by 10,000. One bps is 0.01%.
The dataset measures what each venue quoted for the same route at the same time, not executed fills, settlement time or refund behavior. Quotes move with market prices, liquidity and trade size, so a quote taken at another time can rank differently. Chainflip, Symbiosis, tBTC and Across were not part of this round of quotes and are not covered in this blog. Our Bitcoin bridge guide compares them on custody and chain coverage.
The results
BOB Gateway gave the best quote in 4 of 5 tests. Garden Finance took the fifth, 1.00 USDT ahead on a 0.1 BTC trade.
| Test | BOB Gateway | Garden Finance | THORChain | NEAR Intents | Relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01 BTC to USDT | 776.56 (best) | 776.20 (4.6 bps) | 776.274 (3.7 bps) | 774.8853 (21.6 bps) | 771.62933 (63.5 bps) |
| 0.1 BTC to USDT | 7,777.96 (1.3 bps) | 7,778.96 (best) | 7,762.62 (21.0 bps) | 7,764.646 (18.4 bps) | 7,729.0633 (64.1 bps) |
| 1 BTC to USDT | 77,897.00 (best) | 77,871.90 (3.2 bps) | 77,860.20 (4.7 bps) | 77,730.13 (21.4 bps) | 77,367.70 (67.9 bps) |
| 1 BTC to ETH | 30.96 (best) | 30.92944 (9.9 bps) | 30.9412 (6.1 bps) | 30.87898 (26.2 bps) | 30.715394 (79.0 bps) |
| 1 BTC to USDC | 77,513.72 (best) | 77,456.58 (7.4 bps) | 77,436.50 (10.0 bps) | 77,303.10 (27.2 bps) | 77,010.22 (65.0 bps) |
Table 1. Quoted output on 14 September 2026, in each test's output asset. The figure in brackets is the gap from the best quote.
Figure 1. Average gap from the best quote across the five tests. BOB Gateway averaged 0.3 bps and Relay averaged 67.9 bps.
BOB Gateway never trailed the best quote by more than 1.3 bps.
| Protocol | Best quotes | Average gap from best | Largest gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| BOB Gateway | 4 of 5 | 0.3 bps | 1.3 bps |
| Garden Finance | 1 of 5 | 5.0 bps | 9.9 bps |
| THORChain | 0 of 5 | 9.1 bps | 21.0 bps |
| NEAR Intents | 0 of 5 | 23.0 bps | 27.2 bps |
| Relay | 0 of 5 | 67.9 bps | 79.0 bps |
Table 2. Summary of the five tests. Averages are the mean of the five gaps in Table 1.
What the gap looks like on 1 BTC
Basis points make differences look smaller than they are. On a 1 BTC to USDT swap, the lowest quote we got was 529.30 USDT below BOB Gateway's.
| 1 BTC route | Garden Finance | THORChain | NEAR Intents | Relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USDT on Ethereum | 25.10 USDT less | 36.80 USDT less | 166.87 USDT less | 529.30 USDT less |
| USDC on Ethereum | 57.14 USDC less | 77.22 USDC less | 210.62 USDC less | 503.50 USDC less |
Table 3. How much less each protocol quoted than BOB Gateway in the two 1 BTC stablecoin tests.
These are quotes from 14 September 2026 for these routes and sizes. They're not a permanent ranking, and your live quote may differ.
Figure 2. How much less each venue quoted on a 1 BTC swap into USDT and into USDC. Relay's gap exceeded 500 in both stablecoins.
Does trade size change the winner?
Only on one occasion in this dataset.
| Trade size | Best quote | Second best | Spread, best to worst |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01 BTC to USDT | BOB Gateway | THORChain (3.7 bps) | 4.93 USDT |
| 0.1 BTC to USDT | Garden Finance | BOB Gateway (1.3 bps) | 49.90 USDT |
| 1 BTC to USDT | BOB Gateway | Garden Finance (3.2 bps) | 529.30 USDT |
| 1 BTC to ETH | BOB Gateway | THORChain (6.1 bps) | 0.24461 ETH |
| 1 BTC to USDC | BOB Gateway | Garden Finance (7.4 bps) | 503.50 USDC |
Table 4. Best and second-best quote at each trade size, and the spread across all five protocols.
How BOB Gateway fees compare with Garden, THORChain, NEAR Intents and Relay
Each protocol builds its price differently, which is why the outputs in Table 1 don't match.
| Protocol | How the price is built | What you see | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| BOB Gateway | A solver quotes the output, with gas, solver and routing costs built in. Swaps in the BOB app add a route-based front-end fee, lower for VIP users. | One guaranteed minimum output, with every fee shown in the quote before you sign | Gateway fees docs |
| Garden Finance | Solvers compete on price and set their own fee for each route, typically 0.1% to 0.3% of the swap amount. | A quoted output, with a percentage fee and a fixed USD fee returned alongside it | Garden FAQ (solver fees) and Get Quote API reference (fee fields) |
| THORChain | An inbound network fee, a slip-based liquidity fee that grows with how much of the pool your swap uses, and an outbound fee based on destination gas. Streaming swaps split a large trade into smaller swaps to cut slip. | A quoted output with slip and network fees already taken out | THORChain fees docs |
| NEAR Intents | Solvers compete on price through the 1Click API. Requests without an API key pay an extra 0.25%. With a key, the fee is 0.20%, or 0.01% on stablecoin and same-asset routes. | A quoted output with the platform fee and solver spread built in | NEAR Intents fees docs |
| Relay | The quote bundles an execution cost (gas plus a flat fee), a swap cost (DEX fees, slippage and solver rebalancing) and a platform fee of 0.00% to 0.15%. Integrators can add their own app fees on top. | A quoted output with execution, swap and platform costs included | Relay cost and fee structure |
Table 5. How each protocol prices a native BTC swap, based on each protocol's fee documentation as of 16 September 2026.
BOB Gateway fees cover routing and gas with no markup on top, and the solver's margin is already in the output you're quoted. The other protocols build their costs into the quote in different ways: a solver fee, pool slip, a platform fee or a mix of these. That's why the quoted output is the fairest way to compare them.
Which bridges lock your quote before you send BTC?
All five give you a quote before you commit funds. How firm that quote stays once you send BTC is where they differ.
BOB Gateway. Every quote includes a guaranteed minimum output.
- Swaps from BTC: You send BTC to a deposit address for your order. Once it confirms, the solver delivers at least that minimum in a single atomic transaction. If it can't, your BTC is refunded.
- Swaps back to BTC: Your funds sit in escrow, with the minimum BTC output written into the order onchain. The escrow only releases once BOB's Bitcoin light client verifies the solver paid at least that amount.
Garden Finance. Once a solver accepts your order, both sides of the trade are locked in hash time-locked contracts (HTLCs). The rate is fixed from that point, and either side can reclaim its funds if the swap doesn't complete.
THORChain. Your quote is subject to pool slip when the transaction settles, so it can move if the pool price changes before your Bitcoin transaction is observed.
NEAR Intents and Relay. Both return a solver-committed quote when you request it, with execution following through their own settlement flows.
How fast are native BTC bridge transfers?
Speed mostly comes down to how long each protocol waits for Bitcoin confirmations, plus its own settlement step after that.
BOB Gateway. A BTC to USDT swap typically arrives in about 10 minutes, with the rate locked before you send BTC (compare live quotes). That's a typical time, not a guarantee, and it depends on Bitcoin network conditions.
THORChain. The number of Bitcoin blocks it waits for scales with the size of your deposit relative to the Bitcoin block reward, capped at three confirmations since an August 2024 network update (per THORChain University, a community-run publication). Streaming swaps for large trades can add up to 24 hours of execution time in exchange for less slip.
Garden Finance, NEAR Intents and Relay. None publish a fixed confirmation count for native BTC deposits as of 16 September 2026. Garden's HTLC settlement completes once the Bitcoin-side transaction confirms and the counterparty transaction is broadcast. Relay cites a median bridge time of 2.7 seconds across its routes, but that figure isn't specific to BTC. A native BTC deposit still has to wait for Bitcoin confirmation before a solver can fill it.
| Protocol | What gates settlement | Published speed |
|---|---|---|
| BOB Gateway | Bitcoin confirmation, then solver delivery | About 10 minutes, typical |
| Garden Finance | Bitcoin confirmation of the HTLC, then counterparty redemption | Not published for native BTC |
| THORChain | Bitcoin confirmation, dynamically counted, capped at three blocks | Confirmation count published, no minute figure |
| NEAR Intents | Bitcoin confirmation, then solver settlement on NEAR | Not published for native BTC |
| Relay | Bitcoin confirmation of the deposit, then solver fill | 2.7 seconds median across all routes, not BTC-specific |
Table 6. What gates settlement for each protocol, and the speed each one publishes, as of 16 September 2026.
Which Bitcoin bridge should you choose?
It depends on what you're optimizing for. For the most output on a BTC to stablecoin or ETH swap, BOB Gateway had the best quote in 4 of 5 tests.
| Your priority | Consider | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Most output on a BTC to stablecoin or ETH swap | BOB Gateway | Best quote in 4 of 5 tests, 0.3 bps average gap |
| A guaranteed minimum output, fixed before you send BTC | BOB Gateway | The solver locks the output before Bitcoin confirmation |
| The best quote at around 0.1 BTC into USDT | Compare Garden Finance and BOB Gateway | Garden Finance won at this size on 14 September 2026 by a small margin |
| No fee line beyond the quoted output | BOB Gateway | The quote includes all the costs |
Table 7. Which protocol fits which priority, based on the 14 September 2026 tests and each protocol's published fee model.
Get a live quote on BOB Gateway
Across five native BTC tests, BOB Gateway gave the best quote four times and never trailed by more than 1.3 bps. Garden Finance won at 0.1 BTC, and at 1 BTC the gap between the best and worst quote passed 500 USDT.
These quotes are from 14 September 2026, and prices move with the market. Check a live quote for your own route and trade size before you swap.
VIP Levels are live on Gateway with fee discounts. Start swapping on BOB Gateway