# What is a THORChain inbound address?

An inbound address is the address on a connected chain where you send coins to THORChain, and it belongs to the active vault that THORChain’s nodes control together. It changes when the vaults change, so read the current one right before you send.

Also called vault address.

## How it works

Each connected chain has an inbound address for its active Asgard vault. Coins sent to that address are processed by THORChain, and the memo tells THORChain what to do with them.

Which address you use depends on the chain you send from, because each chain has its own inbound address.

## Why it changes

Churn cycles change the set of validator nodes. After each churn, the active vault becomes retiring, its funds move to a newly created vault, and the newest vault starts receiving deposits right away.

The inbound address changes along with the vault, so an address copied from an old page can be out of date.

THORChain’s documentation warns never to send funds to a retired vault address, because funds sent to a vault that has become inactive cannot be recovered.

## Before you send

- Look up the inbound address for the chain you are sending from on the inbound addresses endpoint, right before you send.
- Send right after you read the address, because a delay can leave you sending to an outdated vault address.
- Check that the network is not halted before you send.
- Include the memo exactly as written, since THORChain reads the instruction from it.

## In Redacted

Redacted’s core contributors run a THORNode with public, read-only endpoints, and the API at api.redacted.money lists THORChain’s inbound addresses for anyone to check.

## Related terms

- [Vault](https://redacted.gg/glossary/vault.md): A THORChain vault is an address on a connected chain that holds real coins, such as Bitcoin or Ether, and that THORChain’s nodes control together. Its key is split among the nodes, so no single node can move the coins alone.
- [Memo](https://redacted.gg/glossary/memo.md): A memo is a line of text attached to a THORChain transaction that tells the network what to do with the coins, such as which coin you want back and who receives it. Anyone can read it, because it sits in the public transaction.
- [THORChain](https://redacted.gg/glossary/thorchain.md): THORChain is a network that swaps native coins across chains, such as Bitcoin for Ether, with no bridges and no wrapped tokens. The coins sit in vaults on their home chains, secured by about 100 independent node operators.
- [Native cross-chain swap](https://redacted.gg/glossary/cross-chain-swap.md): A native cross-chain swap trades a coin on one chain for a coin on another, for example Bitcoin for Ether, by moving the real coins between vaults instead of minting wrapped copies on a bridge.

Sources: [Sending transactions, THORChain developer docs](https://dev.thorchain.org/concepts/sending-transactions.html), [Bifrost, TSS and vaults, THORChain documentation](https://docs.thorchain.org/technical-documentation/technology/bifrost-tss-and-vaults)
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Page: https://redacted.gg/glossary/inbound-address/