# What is a price limit in a swap?

A price limit is the least amount of a coin you accept back from a swap, written into the memo. If the swap would pay less than that, THORChain refunds your coins instead of filling the swap below the limit.

Also called swap limit, trade limit or minimum output.

## How the limit works

The limit is the LIM field of the memo, and the memo counts amounts in units where one whole coin is 100000000 units. A limit of 100000000 asks for at least one whole coin, and if the swap would return less, it is refunded.

A limit of 50000000 asks for at least half a coin, so set the limit to the least you would accept. It protects you if the price moves against you before the swap settles.

## Limit swaps and streams

A limit swap is written with =< instead of =, and it runs only once the price meets the limit. It waits for that price, and when it expires, the funds still in it are refunded.

A streaming swap keeps the same limit. If its sub-swaps cannot reach that price during the stream, the inbound amount is refunded, in whole or in part.

## In Redacted

Redacted’s public swap app at app.redacted.gg writes the limit from the tolerance you pick into the memo of a plain THORChain swap.

## Related terms

- [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.
- [Streaming swap](https://redacted.gg/glossary/streaming-swap.md): A streaming swap cuts one large swap into smaller sub-swaps that run over several blocks, so each piece moves the price less. You choose the interval between pieces and how many pieces there are.
- [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.
- [Outbound fee](https://redacted.gg/glossary/outbound-fee.md): The outbound fee is what THORChain charges to pay the gas for the last step of a swap, the transaction that delivers the coin on its destination chain. It is taken from the swap output, so the amount you receive is after the fee.
- [Orderbook](https://redacted.gg/glossary/orderbook.md): An orderbook lists every open order to buy or sell at a set price. A limit order waits on the book until the market reaches its price, instead of trading at whatever the price is right now.

Sources: [Transaction memos, THORChain developer docs](https://dev.thorchain.org/concepts/memos.html), [Continuous liquidity pools, THORChain documentation](https://docs.thorchain.org/technical-documentation/thorchain-finance/continuous-liquidity-pools)
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Page: https://redacted.gg/glossary/price-limit/