Non-Obvious Ways to Improve Your Business by Integrating a Swap Solution ChangeNOW

Most products add swaps to let users exchange assets without leaving the interface. When implemented well, swaps shape liquidity flow, user behavior, and a business’s role in partner ecosystems, affecting retention, revenue, and scalability far beyond simple convenience.

This article examines four real-world implementations where integrating a non-custodial swap solution delivered outcomes beyond initial intentions. These cases show how swaps became distribution levers, onboarding accelerators, and B2B growth tools without changing custody models or adding operational overhead. If you view swaps only as a UX upgrade, these examples illustrate broader, often underutilized, advantages.

Rubic: scaling cross-chain aggregation beyond EVM limits

Launched in 2020, Rubic is a cross-chain aggregation platform built to support asset swaps across more than 70 networks. Its core proposition is liquidity consolidation: aggregating routing from over 340 decentralized exchanges, bridges and intent protocols into a single interface.

Through its API and SDK solutions, Rubic enables wallets and dApps to expose cross-chain swap functionality without managing routing logic or liquidity fragmentation.

The scaling limitation: beyond EVM ecosystems

While Rubic achieved strong coverage across EVM-compatible chains, long-term growth depended on access to non-EVM liquidity. Major ecosystems such as Bitcoin, Monero, and Cardano represent a large share of market activity, yet remain technically isolated due to fundamentally different architectures. Without access to these networks, the aggregator’s “universal” positioning remained incomplete, limiting both user reach and the potential volume.

Infrastructure cost as a strategic constraint

Supporting non-EVM chains natively required custom bridges, node infrastructure, and liquidity pipelines for each protocol, adding significant technical and operational overhead, detracting from Rubic’s core aggregation focus. Large-scale infrastructure expansion would slow growth and raise maintenance costs.

Extending coverage through API integration

To close the connectivity gap, Rubic integrated the ChangeNOW Exchange API as an external liquidity and execution layer for non-EVM assets. This allowed Rubic to support instant swaps for assets such as BTC, XMR, and ADA through a single integration point, without developing proprietary bridge logic. New asset support could be added quickly by leveraging existing liquidity infrastructure rather than building custom pipelines.

Execution quality as a retention driver

The integration affected more than asset coverage. Improved execution speed and swap reliability became a differentiating factor. For cross-chain aggregators, slow or failed swaps directly translate into churn, especially under volatile conditions. By relying on an optimized processing layer, Rubic improved execution speed, and demand increased, making execution performance more predictable for users who prioritize speed and price certainty.

Operational impact

• Network coverage: access to non-EVM ecosystems, including Bitcoin- and privacy-focused assets.
• Deployment speed: faster rollout of new chains without additional infrastructure buildout.
• Volume growth: following the integration, Rubic observed increased usage and transaction volume on high-demand cross-chain routes, directly attributable to support for new assets.
• Execution reliability: higher swap success rates driven by optimized transaction processing.

"From the users’ perspective, all disputed issues are handled promptly and politely, and transactions are always closed efficiently. Exchange speeds are excellent, and the range of supported networks is broad. From the company’s perspective, we’d like to highlight the account manager–thanks to whom issues are resolved quickly. There’s a strong sense of support and true collaboration." — Rubic

NDA-Aggregator: Lowering Entry Barriers Without Compromising Security

At the partner’s request, the case is presented anonymously, with details adjusted to focus on the implementation and outcomes rather than the brand name.

The platform is a hybrid exchange aggregator routing liquidity across hundreds decentralized and centralized exchanges. Now it operates as middleware for cross-chain trading, offering optimal execution paths from a single interface for active traders and partners who need broad access without building chain-specific infrastructure.

The Structural Barrier: Connect Wallet as a Drop-Off Point

The aggregator’s main growth constraint was not pricing or coverage, but friction at first interaction. In DeFi-native flows, the requirement to connect a wallet acts as an immediate exit point for a significant share of users. For many, this step is less about UX and more about perceived security exposure, especially when interacting with unfamiliar smart contracts.

Security Friction and Missed High-Intent Sessions

Users holding meaningful balances often avoid linking wallets due to concerns about permissions, contract risk, and phishing. The effect was observable: users explored routes and rates but did not proceed to execution. On mobile devices or without access to a primary hardware wallet, the connection step introduced additional friction, leading to lost conversions precisely when intent was highest.

Implementation: Non-Custodial, Wallet-Less Swap Flow

To address this constraint, the aggregator integrated the ChangeNOW Exchange API to support wallet-less swaps. Instead of requesting wallet permissions, users initiate trades via a deposit-and-receive flow: assets are sent to a generated address and delivered to the specified destination. The model preserved non-custodial principles while removing the need for direct wallet connections or dApp permissions.

Non-Obvious Outcome: Trust as an Acquisition Channel

The integration reframed the platform’s role for a new user segment. By offering a low-friction, low-anxiety entry point, the product became accessible to users previously hesitant to engage with DeFi tools. Over time, this wallet-less flow acted as a gateway: once users verified execution quality and reliability, resistance to deeper interaction decreased, supporting gradual adoption of more advanced features.

Operational Impact

• User acquisition: access to security-conscious users who avoid wallet connectivity by default.
• Conversion efficiency: lower abandonment at first interaction by eliminating permission-based friction.
• Trust signaling: clear alignment with user preferences around control and security.
• Mobile accessibility: improved execution for users without immediate access to primary wallets or hardware devices.

“Definitely move ahead and integrate: they have great customer support and a very hard working team." — Comment from a brand representative

These cases show how swaps stop being a feature and become part of the product’s structure.If you want to see how this is implemented at the infrastructure level, you can look at how the ChangeNOW Exchange API works here.

Tonbankcard: optimizing protocol access through cross-chain simplicity

Tonbankcard is an open financial protocol built on the TON blockchain, where accounts are structured as NFTs to ensure full user control. Currently in its foundation phase, the project focuses on enabling non-custodial asset management and internal TBC token transfers rather than immediate consumer spending. Since late 2024, the team has prioritized reducing friction between on-chain assets and real-world payments, positioning the product as a foundational layer for future decentralized payment infrastructure.

The protocol itself is currently in active development and is preparing for a broader public launch. At the same time, related infrastructure components, including exchange, bridge, and market data services, are already live and operational, supporting early ecosystem activity.

The onboarding constraint: asset mismatch at first use

The main growth limitation emerged at the earliest stage of the user journey: funding the protocol account. Users frequently arrived with assets on different chains, while interacting with the protocol required specific assets within the TON ecosystem.. This mismatch stalled engagement even for users with clear intent, introducing friction at the exact moment where momentum mattered most.

Fragmented conversion as a growth bottleneck

Previously, fixing this mismatch forced users to exit Tonbankcard, find an external exchange or bridge, complete a manual swap, and return. To resolve this, Tonbankcard integrated the ChangeNOW Exchange Widget directly into its interface. This integration reduced the number of steps required to fund protocol accounts by 50% Each step raised abandonment risk, directly hindering conversion rates and user growth for a product built on speed and simplicity.

An operational side effect: Monetization without centralization

While the primary goal was improving user access, the integrated swap flow introduced a secondary effect. The partnership established a revenue stream via a 0.4% commission on transaction volume. Frequent in-app conversions generated transaction-based revenue through a RevShare model. This added a predictable income stream, supporting the protocol’s self-sustainability without compromising its decentralized principles. Over time, this contribution supported earlier self-sustainability and reduced reliance on external funding.

Operational outcomes

• Time-to-interaction: Faster transition from the first contact to the first successful protocol interaction.
• Retention: Seamless cross-chain swaps reduced reliance on external tools kept users inside the product lifecycle.
• Revenue contribution: swap activity supported earlier self-sustainability through commission sharing.

Conclusion

Across all four cases, integrating a non-custodial swap solution delivered effects far beyond asset exchange. Swaps reduced early drop-off by removing external handoffs or permission friction, kept liquidity inside the product, and created revenue streams tied directly to core user actions.

At a business level, swaps reshaped how products operated. Zelcore and Rubic strengthened B2B positioning through embedded liquidity. Tonbankcard removed onboarding friction at the point of first value and reached self-sustainability faster. Another aggregation platform expanded access by removing wallet-connection anxiety for security-conscious users.. In each case, liquidity became part of the product’s architecture rather than a peripheral feature.

The takeaway is structural: when swaps are embedded without changing custody models or increasing operational burden, they improve retention, monetization, and ability to expand without infrastructure overhead. These cases show why teams increasingly rely on infrastructure like the ChangeNOW API not as a feature add-on, but as a way to integrate liquidity cleanly into existing product logic.