Understanding Fees on THORChain and Rujira

When exploring the Rujira ecosystem, it is important to understand how fees work. Some transactions take place entirely within Rujira, while others involve multiple blockchains through THORChain’s cross-chain infrastructure. Depending on the action, a transaction may interact with several networks or products, each with its own rules and costs.

THORChain handles much of this complexity in the background, making it feel seamless to move assets between chains. However, network and protocol fees are still part of the process and can be confusing if you’re not familiar with how they work.

This guide breaks down the different types of fees you might encounter when using THORChain and Rujira, so you know what to expect and how everything fits together.

Here is what we will cover:

• Network fees
• Product fees
• Inbound, swap, and outbound fees
• Dust threshold
• Affiliate fees
• Referral fees

⚡️Network Fees on Rujira

At launch, the gas fee for using products built on Rujira will be set to zero as an experiment. This means you can use Rujira apps without paying any gas.

If we detect abuse or spam, a small fee may be introduced to protect the network and prevent transaction delays. In that case, gas would be paid in RUNE. Currently, the network fee for transactions outside of the App Layer is set at 0.02 RUNE. This amount is determined by a parameter set by THORChain nodes.

⚡️Product Fees

To use the apps on Rujira, users pay a small fee per transaction. The amount depends on the product being used and the type of interaction with that product. This is known as the product fee.

This product fee is captured and serves two purposes:

• It is converted to USDC and distributed to $RUJI stakers
• When applicable, a portion goes to the liquidity providers whose capital enabled the transaction. This often helps compensate for what is known as impermanent loss.

A full overview of the product fees that are charged can be found on https://docs.rujira.network/

⚡️Fees when Transacting Cross-Chain

Before we dive into the options, here are the key fees to understand:

• Inbound fee: Paid to move your asset from its native chain into THORChain.
• Swap fee: A dynamic fee based on the size of your trade. Larger trades have more price impact and higher fees. This is paid in RUNE and is deducted during the swap.
• Outbound fee: Paid to send the final asset from THORChain to the destination chain. This is deducted from the output.
• Network fee: Paid to make a transaction on the THORChain network

Swaps via “Token Swap”

Cross-chain swaps can be done through our RUJI Swap product, which provides a simple and intuitive interface for swapping assets across chains using THORChain. There are three types of swaps you can make, each with its own fee structure depending on the assets and networks involved.

Option 1: Native Asset → Native Asset

Example: Swapping $BTC on the Bitcoin network for $ETH on the Ethereum network.

Your BTC is sent from your Bitcoin wallet to THORChain, swapped through the pools, and then the ETH is sent to your Ethereum address.

• Inbound fee: Paid in $BTC (to cover gas in the source network)
• Swap fee: Paid in $RUNE (deducted during the swap)
• Outbound fee: Paid in $ETH (deducted from the output to covers the gas THORChain pays on behalf of the user to send the outbound transaction and cover churn cost)

Option 2: Native Asset → Secured Asset on Rujira

Example: Swapping native $BTC on the Bitcoin network for $DOGE on Rujira.

Your BTC is sent to THORChain, swapped for DOGE, and then the DOGE is deposited into an Asgard vault as a secured asset, making it usable within Rujira.

• Inbound fee: Paid in $BTC
• Swap fee: Paid in $RUNE (deducted during the swap)
• Outbound fee: None

Option 3: Secured Asset on Rujira → Native Asset

Example: Swapping $XRP on Rujira for native $LTC on the Litecoin network.

Your XRP is withdrawn from the vault, swapped through the THORChain pools, and the LTC is sent to your address on the Litecoin network.

• Inbound fee: None
• Swap fee: Paid in $RUNE (deducted during the swap)
• Outbound fee: Paid in $LTC (deducted from the output)

Depositing Assets onto Rujira

When you deposit assets onto Rujira, it may seem like a single transaction, but behind the scenes, it actually involves two steps: first, a transaction on the asset’s native network (such as the Bitcoin network), and then a deposit into an Asgard vault.

Example: If you want to deposit $BTC, you first make a transaction on the Bitcoin network from your address to THORChain, followed by a transaction that deposits the BTC into the vault.

• Inbound fee: Paid in $BTC
• Network fee: None
• Outbound fee: None

Withdrawing Assets from Rujira

Withdrawing your assets follows a similar process in reverse: they are taken out of the Asgard vault on THORChain and sent back to the asset’s native chain.

Example: If you want to withdraw $BTC from Rujira, you first make a transaction on THORChain to release the asset from the vault, followed by a transaction on the Bitcoin network to send it to your address.

• Inbound fee: None
• Network fee: Paid in $RUNE (deducted during the withdrawn amount)
• Outbound fee: Paid in $BTC (deducted from the withdrawn amount)

Dust Threshold

To prevent the THORChain network from being flooded with spam, there is a minimum amount of each asset that must be sent for the nodes to recognize the transaction. This minimum is known as the dust threshold. If you send less than this amount, the transaction will not be recognized or processed by the Nodes.

The dust thresholds are

• AVAX: 0.000000001 AVAX
• BASE: 0.000000001 ETH
• BCH: 0.0001 BCH
• BSC: 0.000000001 BNB
• BTC: 0.0001 BTC
• DOGE: 1 DOGE
• ETH: 0.000000001 ETH
• GAIA: 0.000001 ATOM
• LTC: 0.0001 LTC
• XRP: 1 XRP

⚡️Affiliate fee

THORChain has a built-in affiliate system that allows third parties such as front-end interfaces, wallets, and aggregators to monetize their services by adding a fee on top of THORChain’s protocol fees. Affiliates can set their own fee, usually between 0.1% and 1%, which is automatically deducted during a user’s transaction. RUJI Swap, available under “Token Swap,” is an example of this. It serves as a front end for THORChain and currently charges a 0.5% affiliate fee.

Rujira will introduce a similar system with its own affiliate model. This will allow any third party to integrate products like perps, order books, strategies, or money markets. In return, they can earn affiliate fees while supporting and benefiting from Rujira’s growth.

⚡️Referral fee

In addition, we will introduce a flexible and open system to support growth through a broad network of integrators, creators, and community members. Whether you are a developer, content creator, or simply passionate about sharing Rujira, this system gives you the tools to become part of our decentralized salesforce.

Referral fees will be taken directly from protocol revenue. This means partners can earn by helping grow the ecosystem without adding any extra cost to users. It creates a model that rewards contribution while without increasing the cost for end users.

⚡️Questions and Help

While we continue to improve the experience, we understand that fees are a difficult topic and that issues arise. If you need support with getting started on Rujira, please join our official Telegram chat (https://t.me/Rujira_Community) and we will help you with any question you have. In our official Telegram chat, make sure to only interact with team members and admins (with a tag in their name), and never answer to any DM’s. None of the team members and admins will DM you first, so anyone who does is most likely a scammer.

We also want to emphasize that all official updates, links, and announcements will come exclusively from the official Rujira X account. Any other sources claiming to provide guidance, links, or assistance are most likely scams. We urge you to stay vigilant and avoid engaging with unverified actors.