Fermi swap takes six steps for a team: authorize the trade, verify both token contracts, connect the treasury wallet, assess the quote, approve token spending if required, and submit the swap. The tokens trade from the wallet against Fermi’s inventory, so the team should check the output and record the transaction before using it for treasury, payouts, or regular transfers.
What to Prepare Before Connecting
Prepare an approved trade amount, the wallet that holds the tokens, and the exact assets the team intends to receive. Fermi is an Ethereum-based decentralized exchange that fills trades from its own token inventory. The wallet signs the transaction; the team does not need to move its tokens into an exchange account first.
Record these details in the trade request so the signer and reviewer are checking the same transaction:
- The network holding the input tokens.
- The input and output token contract addresses.
- The maximum input amount and minimum acceptable output.
- The wallet address and person authorized to sign.
A token symbol alone is insufficient: two contracts can display the same name. Check contract addresses against the issuers’ listings, such as Circle’s listing for USDC and Coinbase’s listing for cbBTC, and confirm the network as well. Coinbase lists cbBTC at the same address on Ethereum and Base, which shows why an address match by itself does not establish that the wallet is on the intended chain.
How to Complete the Swap in Six Steps
Complete the swap in order, with a reviewer checking the trade terms before the signer commits funds. The example below is illustrative: a treasury plans to exchange 5,000 USDC for cbBTC on Ethereum.
- Authorize the trade. Set the amount, purpose, and minimum cbBTC the team will accept before opening a quote. For a payout or recurring transfer, tie the request to its internal reference so the eventual onchain transaction can be reconciled. Decide who reviews the terms and who signs from the treasury wallet.
- Verify both token contracts. Compare the USDC and cbBTC contract addresses and the network with the issuer listings recorded in the request. Then compare those details with the assets shown in the proposed trade, character for character rather than relying on a token logo. A different contract represents a different asset even when its displayed symbol looks familiar.
- Connect the treasury wallet. For a Fermi token swap, use the wallet that holds the approved USDC balance and whose signing policy covers this trade. With the contracts checked, use Fermi swap to exchange from that wallet against Fermi’s token inventory. Confirm that the connected address is the one in the trade request before proceeding to the quote.
- Assess the quoted output. Compare the cbBTC amount with the team’s minimum, an independent market reference, and the network cost shown by the wallet. As an illustrative calculation, if BTC were worth $100,000, 5,000 USDC would equal 0.05 BTC before trading costs; a quote of 0.0495 cbBTC implies roughly $101,010 per BTC. The difference reflects the effective trade price, while Ethereum gas is an additional cost that changes with network demand.
- Approve the input token if required. An ERC-20 approval gives a specified contract permission to spend tokens from the wallet; it is separate from the swap itself and may require its own Ethereum transaction and gas. Check the spender address and allowance against the transaction the team intends to make. An allowance limited to the approved amount reduces the funds that permission can reach.
- Submit the swap. Recheck the input amount, expected output, any minimum received value, and the wallet’s transaction details immediately before signing. Quotes can change, and Fermi’s available inventory determines what it can fill at the offered terms. If the terms fall outside the approved range, obtain a fresh quote and review it again instead of signing the old one.
What to Check After Settlement
After settlement, check the transaction on an Ethereum block explorer and match its token transfers to the trade request. Record the transaction hash, actual USDC spent, cbBTC received, and gas paid; the received amount is the figure to use in the treasury ledger. Check the wallet balance too, since a submitted transaction is not proof that the intended output arrived.
For a regular transfer, keep the swap and the later payout as separate records. They have different transaction hashes, costs, and recipients, even if the team planned them together. This separation makes it possible to trace a short payout balance back to either the exchange rate or the transfer itself.
Questions Teams Ask
Wallet custody, failed transactions, and the execution method are the three points most likely to affect the team’s choice of swap.
Can I swap tokens directly from my wallet with Fermi?
Yes. The wallet holds the input tokens and signs the exchange, while Fermi fills the trade from its own inventory. The signer still needs the correct token balance and, on Ethereum mainnet, ETH for network gas. If an ERC-20 approval is required, complete that permission before submitting the swap transaction.
Why did my Fermi swap fail?
Check the transaction hash first: it distinguishes a rejected wallet request from an onchain transaction that reverted. Common causes include too little ETH for gas, an insufficient token balance or allowance, and trade terms that could no longer be met. An onchain revert can still consume gas, so identify the cause before retrying with a fresh quote.
How does Fermi swap compare with Uniswap?
Fermi fills against its own token inventory; a standard Uniswap pool swap trades against liquidity supplied to that pool. Uniswap can also offer other execution routes, so compare the actual quotes rather than assuming every route works alike. For a treasury trade, use the route whose verified assets, received amount, and total transaction cost meet the approved limits.
Proceed only when the connected wallet, network, token contracts, and quoted output all match the team’s approved trade.
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