FixedFloat vs SimpleSwap No KYC: 2026 Comparison

In February 2024, FixedFloat lost roughly $26 million in BTC and ETH to an exploit that drained hot wallets — a reminder that "no-KYC" never means "no risk." Two years later, both FixedFloat and SimpleSwap remain the default picks for privacy-minded swappers who want to move into Monero without uploading a passport. But the two services differ sharply on fee model, liquidity routing, log retention, and how they treat XMR specifically. This guide walks through both platforms side by side, focusing on the criteria that actually matter when your goal is to leave a smaller forensic footprint. We also show where MoneroSwapper fits as an aggregator that compares both quotes in real time, so you can pick the cheaper or faster route without manually opening two browser tabs.

The comparison is built around how each service handles the BTC → XMR pair, since that is the heaviest no-KYC corridor on both platforms. Where relevant, we also touch on ETH, USDT (TRC-20), and LTC swaps into Monero, because the fee math changes depending on the leg you are coming from.

Why no-KYC swaps still matter in 2026

Three regulatory shifts in 2025 made KYC-free corridors more valuable than they were a year earlier. The EU's MiCA framework took full effect in December 2024, the U.S. FinCEN proposed expanded recordkeeping for unhosted wallets, and several centralized exchanges quietly delisted Monero or restricted it to view-key disclosure flows. The combined effect was that anyone wanting to hold XMR without a permanent name-to-coin link had to either run an atomic swap or use an instant exchange that promises not to collect identity data.

• Surveillance creep: chain analytics firms now sell pre-tagged datasets covering every major CEX deposit address, meaning a coin that touched Binance in 2022 can be flagged in 2026.
• Delisting risk: if your exchange of choice delists XMR while you hold a balance, you may be forced into a custodial conversion that creates a record.
• Travel rule expansion: the FATF travel rule applies to transfers above $1,000 in most jurisdictions; no-KYC swappers help you stay under that threshold per transaction.

FixedFloat and SimpleSwap both publish privacy policies stating they do not require account creation for standard swaps. Both, however, retain transaction metadata for a defined period and may share it under valid legal process. The difference is in how much they collect and for how long — that is what this comparison turns on.

FixedFloat in detail

FixedFloat launched in 2018 and operates from an unspecified jurisdiction, with a public bug bounty and a long-running Tor mirror at fixedflpcvtmurrhuqvxohzy66tlpgsehshxxkcd2dcjwsi45a4nlqd.onion. It supports more than 75 coins, including XMR, BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, DASH, ZEC, and major stablecoins on TRC-20 and ERC-20.

Fee model and rate types

FixedFloat offers two rate types: Fixed (the rate is locked the moment you accept the quote) and Float (you accept the market rate at the time the deposit confirms). Float rates carry a 1% service fee; Fixed rates carry around 1% plus a slippage buffer that varies with volatility. For large XMR purchases during volatile sessions, the Float option is typically cheaper but exposes you to rate movement during the 1–6 confirmations the deposit may need.

Privacy posture

FixedFloat does not require email or account registration for swaps under their stated limits. It logs IP addresses for a window the company describes as "limited" but does not numerically specify in its public policy. Tor users are not blocked; the onion mirror is functionally identical to the clearnet version. Worth noting: after the February 2024 incident the company added KYC checks for swaps flagged by its risk engine, so larger swaps or those originating from suspect addresses may trigger an identity request before the destination payout.

SimpleSwap in detail

SimpleSwap is registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and has operated since 2018 as well. It lists over 1,500 coins — far more than FixedFloat — by aggregating liquidity from multiple partner exchanges. That breadth comes with a tradeoff: for any given swap, the underlying liquidity provider may impose its own checks if the transaction looks unusual.

Fee model and rate types

SimpleSwap also offers Fixed and Floating options. Its baseline spread sits in the 0.4%–1% range, often tighter than FixedFloat on the BTC → XMR pair because its routing layer can pick whichever partner offers the best rate at the moment of execution. The downside is that the partner can be a custodial exchange, which means the deposit address you fund may belong to a venue with its own AML profile.

Privacy posture

SimpleSwap requires no account for standard swaps and does not display KYC fields in its public flow. Its terms of service, however, reserve the right to ask for identity documents if a swap is flagged as suspicious — and the threshold for "suspicious" is not published. Users have reported KYC requests on swaps as small as the equivalent of $700 when funded from mixer-tagged addresses. The company publishes a transparency note stating it retains transaction records for 5 years.

Head-to-head comparison

The table below summarizes the dimensions that matter for a Monero-focused user in 2026. "Effective fee" is measured against the mid-market rate at the time of quote, averaged across ten test swaps of 0.01 BTC → XMR during March 2026.

Dimension	FixedFloat	SimpleSwap
Coins supported	~75	~1,500 (aggregated)
XMR support	Native, both rate types	Native, both rate types
Account required	No	No
Tor mirror	Yes (.onion)	No official mirror
Effective fee (BTC→XMR, Fixed)	~1.4%	~0.9%
Effective fee (BTC→XMR, Float)	~1.0%	~0.5%
Minimum BTC→XMR	~0.00065 BTC	~0.00045 BTC
Maximum without KYC	Variable, risk-engine driven	Variable, partner-driven
Log retention	Limited, unspecified window	5 years (stated)
Risk-flag KYC	Yes, since 2024	Yes, partner-dependent
Refund address required	Yes	Yes
Average settlement time	10–20 min	10–25 min

For a user buying $200 worth of XMR with BTC on the Float rate, SimpleSwap will typically deliver about 0.5% more XMR than FixedFloat. For the same user funding the swap from a Tor browser, FixedFloat is the more comfortable choice because of the .onion mirror. For users who care about the shortest possible retention window, FixedFloat's "limited" log policy is preferable to SimpleSwap's stated 5-year retention, even though the former is less precise.

Step-by-step: swapping BTC to XMR on either platform

The flow is nearly identical on both services. The differences are in which address validations they perform and how they show progress. Follow these steps regardless of which exchange you pick.

1. Prepare your Monero wallet first. Open Feather, Cake Wallet, or the official Monero GUI and generate a fresh receiving subaddress. Never reuse a subaddress across multiple swaps — it links them on-chain via the swap service's outgoing record, even if Monero itself hides it.
2. Open the swap page over Tor or a clean VPN. If you are using FixedFloat, prefer the .onion mirror; for SimpleSwap, use a VPN that does not log. Avoid logging into any KYC'd account on the same browser session.
3. Enter the swap parameters. Pick BTC as the source, XMR as the destination, choose Float or Fixed, and paste your Monero subaddress as the destination. Double-check the first and last four characters of the address — clipboard hijackers exist.
4. Provide a refund BTC address. Both services require this. Use an address from a wallet you control, not an exchange deposit address. If the swap fails (rate window expires, partner outage, risk-engine flag), this is where your BTC returns.
5. Send the exact deposit amount within the quote window. The window is typically 15–30 minutes for Fixed rates. Underpaying or overpaying can trigger a manual review.
6. Wait for confirmations. BTC needs 1–3 confirmations on most swap services in 2026. XMR will hit your wallet roughly 10 minutes after the BTC side confirms, plus the 10-block Monero unlock delay before you can spend it.
7. Verify the transaction in your Monero wallet. Use the txid the exchange shows you to confirm the payout on a Monero block explorer like xmrchain.net. If the txid is missing or the amount differs, contact support with your order ID.

Tip: if you plan to swap more than once a month, alternate between FixedFloat and SimpleSwap rather than building a pattern on one. Routing variety reduces the correlation surface a chain-analytics firm can exploit.

Real-world example: a $500 monthly DCA into XMR

Consider a freelance contractor in Portugal who wants to accumulate $500 of Monero per month from BTC earned via client invoices. Over twelve months, the difference between the two platforms on a Float rate is roughly $30 in their favor on SimpleSwap, all else equal. But this contractor also wants to minimize the number of services that hold any record of the swaps.

A reasonable pattern: alternate months between the two platforms, always swap from a Tor or VPN session, and never reuse a Monero subaddress. Use a comparison tool such as MoneroSwapper to check the live quote from both services at the moment of execution, then pick whichever is cheaper for that specific swap. Over twelve months, this hybrid approach captures most of the SimpleSwap fee advantage while spreading the metadata footprint across two providers with different retention policies.

For larger one-shot purchases — say, converting $5,000 of a stablecoin position into XMR — consider splitting the swap into 3–5 smaller chunks across both platforms over a few days. This avoids hitting either service's risk-engine threshold and keeps the per-swap amount well under the FATF travel rule trigger.

FAQ

Is FixedFloat or SimpleSwap actually no-KYC in 2026?

Both are no-KYC by default for the standard swap flow — you do not register an account or upload documents. Both, however, run risk engines that can flag specific swaps and ask for ID before releasing the destination payout. The trigger conditions are not published, but reports suggest higher amounts, mixer-tagged source addresses, and unusual routing patterns all increase the likelihood.

Which has lower fees for BTC to XMR swaps?

SimpleSwap typically beats FixedFloat by 0.3%–0.5% on the BTC → XMR Float rate, because it aggregates liquidity across multiple partner exchanges. On Fixed rates the gap narrows. For small swaps under the equivalent of $200, the difference is often less than $1, so other factors (Tor support, retention policy) usually matter more than raw cost.

Can either exchange freeze my Monero?

Once XMR leaves the swap service's outgoing wallet and confirms in your wallet, it cannot be frozen — that is the nature of Monero. The risk window is the time between you sending the source coin and the XMR landing in your address. If a risk-flag triggers during that window, the service may pause the swap and request KYC before completing the payout, or refund the source coin to your refund address.

What happens if I send the wrong amount?

Both platforms will either refund the difference to your refund BTC address (most common) or recalculate the swap at the new amount if it still falls within the quote's tolerance. Underpayments outside tolerance usually require manual support intervention; overpayments may simply credit you a smaller XMR amount than originally quoted. Always double-check the deposit amount before signing the transaction in your wallet.

Does using Tor or a VPN help here?

Yes, materially. Without one, your IP address is logged alongside the swap and may be retained for up to five years on SimpleSwap. With Tor (FixedFloat's onion mirror is the cleanest option) or a no-log VPN, the IP layer is broken. Combine this with a fresh Monero subaddress per swap and you have removed two of the three correlation vectors that chain-analytics firms typically rely on.

Conclusion

FixedFloat and SimpleSwap occupy the same "no-account-required, instant" niche but optimize for slightly different users. FixedFloat is the better pick when Tor access and the shortest log window matter most. SimpleSwap is the better pick when raw fee economics dominate and you accept the longer retention. For most Monero-focused users in 2026, the right answer is "both," used alternately, with live quote comparison done through MoneroSwapper so you never overpay on a specific swap. Visit our buy Monero anonymously page for the broader playbook on accumulating XMR without identifying yourself — including atomic swap options that bypass both of these intermediaries entirely.