Refunds, cancellations and emergencies
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Most swaps complete without any decision from you. This page covers the ones that do not: what can still be undone, what cannot, and what the executing provider does if you are not there to answer.
Swaps are irreversible once broadcast
Section titled “Swaps are irreversible once broadcast”A crypto transfer is not a card payment. Once your deposit is broadcast to a blockchain it cannot be recalled, by the provider or by anyone else. Kotova cannot intervene at all, because your funds are never with Kotova — see Non-custodial architecture.
There is also no cancel button on an order. Cancelling would mean moving funds, and Kotova cannot move funds. Before you have deposited there is nothing to cancel: let the order expire and create a new one. Afterwards the question is not cancellation but refund — and a refund is not a reversal. It is a second transaction, made by the provider, returning the deposited asset to an address you supply.
When a refund is possible
Section titled “When a refund is possible”The provider executing your order decides this, not Kotova. In practice a refund arises when the swap cannot be carried out as agreed:
- Your deposit arrives after the deposit window has closed.
- A fixed rate can no longer be honoured because the market moved before your deposit confirmed.
- The amount you sent falls below the minimum or above the maximum for the pair.
- The provider cannot route the swap — a liquidity failure, or a destination asset that has become temporarily unavailable.
- The provider held the order for a review that ends in a return rather than a swap.
An order that has already executed is final. Refunds come back in the asset you deposited, less the network fee for sending it, so slightly less arrives than you sent. See Fees.
Refund addresses
Section titled “Refund addresses”A refund address is an address on the network you are sending from — where the deposit returns if the swap cannot be completed. It is separate from the receiving address the swapped asset goes to.
When one is required
Section titled “When one is required”For most orders it is optional. Two cases make it mandatory before the order can be created: Chainflip always requires one, and Changelly requires one for fixed-rate orders. You can also make the app ask every time, using the “Set refund address before swap” setting, which is stored in your browser rather than on Kotova’s servers.
How they differ per provider
Section titled “How they differ per provider”| Provider | Refund address | If the swap cannot complete |
|---|---|---|
| Chainflip | Required before the order is created; written into the swap’s own parameters | Returned automatically by the protocol — no decision to make |
| Changelly | Required for fixed-rate orders, optional for variable | Changelly resolves the order |
| FixedFloat | Not accepted at creation; held by Kotova and submitted when a refund is actually requested | Continue or refund |
| ChangeNOW | Optional at creation | Continue or refund, where ChangeNOW has enabled those actions for the order |
| SideShift | Optional at creation | Refund only |
| StealthEX, Godex, Exolix | Optional at creation | Refunded to the address on file, otherwise resolved through support |
| CCE Cash | Not collected by Kotova | Resolved on CCE Cash’s side |
The address locks once set
Section titled “The address locks once set”Once a refund address is recorded on your order, a different address cannot replace it. Re-submitting the same address is allowed. It becomes editable again only after the provider rejects the one on file. This is deliberate: it means anyone who reaches your order page cannot redirect a pending refund to a wallet of their own.
Emergency choices: continue or refund
Section titled “Emergency choices: continue or refund”When a provider reports that it cannot complete your swap, your order page moves to a state that asks for a decision. Depending on the provider you may be offered:
- Continue exchange — proceed at the current market rate rather than the quoted one. You may receive more or less than the original estimate.
- Request refund — return the deposit to your refund address, less the network fee.
The choice is made on your order page, which opens with the receiving address you entered when you created the order. Kotova passes your decision to the provider; the provider carries it out.
Several providers offer no choice, and the page is then informational: the provider works the order out on its own side and sends any refund to the address on file. An order held for a compliance review shows no buttons either, because the outcome is the provider’s to determine. See Counterparty and freeze risk.
What happens if you do not choose
Section titled “What happens if you do not choose”The page shows a countdown of roughly an hour, starting when the problem was first observed. When it runs out:
- A refund address is on file, and the provider accepts refund instructions. A refund to that address is requested for you — by your browser if the tab is still open, otherwise by a scheduled job.
- No refund address is on file, and the provider accepts a continue instruction. The swap continues at the current market rate. With nowhere to send a refund, leaving the deposit untouched is the worse outcome.
- The provider accepts neither instruction. Nothing is dispatched; the provider resolves the order on its own side.
The countdown is a deadline for your decision, not for the funds to arrive. The provider still needs its own time to send them.
If a provider rejects your refund address
Section titled “If a provider rejects your refund address”Providers validate the destination before accepting it. When one is refused:
- the address is removed from your order and is not retried;
- the field unlocks so you can enter a different one;
- the countdown restarts from the rejection, giving you a fresh window to correct it;
- if you supplied an email address, some providers’ rejections also trigger a message asking you to enter a new one.
The usual cause is an address for the wrong network. A refund travels back on the network you deposited from, not the one you were swapping to.
Wrong coin, wrong network, missing memo
Section titled “Wrong coin, wrong network, missing memo”Three mistakes put funds where Kotova has no reach at all: sending an asset other than the one the order was created for, sending the right asset on the wrong network, and omitting the memo or destination tag where the deposit address requires one, so the deposit arrives unattributed.
Kotova cannot reverse, recall or redirect any of these. Recovery, where it is possible at all, is manual and at the executing provider’s discretion, and some cases cannot be recovered. Contact the provider directly, or contact Kotova support with your order reference and the transaction hash and Kotova support will raise it with the provider on your behalf. See Contact support and Troubleshooting.