Minimum received sets the floor for a crypto swap

Minimum received is the smallest amount of tokens your swap will deliver before the trade is allowed to go through. It sets a price floor for the trade: if the swap would return less, it should fail instead. The figure is usually shown before you confirm, alongside the estimated amount you expect to receive.

That floor matters because the price can move between submitting a swap and its execution. On a blockchain, a transaction may wait for a block while other trades change the available prices. The amount you receive can also differ from the estimate because of slippage, the change in price during the trade. A fuller look at a cross-chain swap appears in thor swap. The same basic idea applies: check the minimum output before signing.

How does minimum received work?

Minimum received is the estimated output minus the amount of price movement you allow. If a swap estimates that you will receive 1 token and your slippage setting allows a 1% shortfall, the minimum may be around 0.99 token. The exact calculation depends on the swap service and its route.

The transaction carries this minimum as a condition. When it executes, the swap’s smart contract checks the amount it can deliver. If the result is below the minimum, the trade reverts, which means the swap does not complete. You may still pay a network fee for the failed transaction because the network used resources to process it.

What can change the amount you receive?

Two things often get mixed up: price impact and slippage. Price impact is the effect your trade has on the price, often because the trade is large compared with the available liquidity. Slippage is the difference between the expected price and the price when the transaction executes. A thin market can create more price impact; a busy market can make the execution price move while your transaction waits.

The displayed minimum also reflects fees or route details, depending on the service. Read the estimate and the minimum as separate numbers: one is the expected result, and the other is the least result you have agreed to accept.

How should you choose a minimum?

A tighter minimum gives you more protection from a worse price, but makes the transaction more likely to fail if the market moves. A looser minimum makes execution easier, but lets the swap complete at a less favorable rate. For most readers, the sensible choice is to keep the default or use a modest tolerance, then review the estimate before confirming.

• Check that the output token and network are the ones you intend to receive.
• Compare the estimate with the minimum; a wide gap means you are allowing more movement.
• If the minimum looks poor, reduce the trade size or wait for conditions to change.
• Do not raise the tolerance just to force a trade through if the price is moving sharply.

Minimum received is a limit, not a promise of a good rate. It can stop a swap from completing below your chosen floor, but it cannot guarantee the estimate will hold or that the market price is fair. Set the floor you can accept, and let the trade fail if execution falls short.