Every direction the desk deals, with today’s rate, the amount band, and what is standing ready. Pick one to see how it settles.
Wire in, crypto or cash out. The route most first-time clients take.
On-chain in, cash or bank out. Fastest to confirm, cheapest at size.
PayPal or Revolut in. Wider spreads and lower ceilings — a transfer that can be disputed after the fact is a risk the price carries openly.
Notes in, anything out — including notes again in a different city. Needs an agent on the sending side.
Yes, and clients do — a SWIFT wire in, USDT out, then cash out of the USDT in a different city a week later. Each leg is priced and settled on its own, so nothing is locked into a chain.
It is one request with two handovers. You hand notes to an agent in the sending city; once the desk confirms the count, a collection code is issued for the receiving city and a second agent pays out there. No cash travels — each desk settles from its own float and the two are squared between them afterwards, which is why the route carries the widest spread and needs both cities to be funded on the day.
A minimum reflects the fixed cost of settling at all; a ceiling reflects what a rail or a city can absorb without notice. Bitcoin has a low minimum and a low ceiling for the same reason: the confirmation is cheap and the liquidity is not.
Bank rail in, USDT out, at 0.30–0.35% route spread. Cash on either side is the expensive part, because someone has to hold notes in a city and be there at a specific hour.