Crypto on-ramp / off-ramp.

In plain English

An on-ramp is any service that accepts dollars from a bank account, card, or transfer and delivers crypto to a wallet, while an off-ramp does the reverse and sends dollars back to a bank. These are the regulated pressure points of the system, so operators must verify identity, monitor for money laundering, and report certain activity. Costs come in layers: a stated fee, a spread between the quoted price and the real market price, and a network fee to move the coins. Card purchases usually cost the most, and bank transfers usually cost the least while taking longer. Off-ramps can hold funds for review, which is when people discover that getting out is slower than getting in.

01Why it matters

Selling crypto is the step where holds, verification, and bank scrutiny appear, so knowing the off-ramp path before you need it prevents money being stuck when you want it.

02The math, step by step

Say $1,000 goes in through a card on-ramp with a 3 percent fee and a 1 percent spread, so about $960 of crypto arrives. Cashing out later with a 1.5 percent fee on $1,200 costs $18, leaving $1,182. Round-trip costs consumed roughly $58 regardless of price movement.

Illustrative example. The amounts here are hypothetical, chosen to show how the math works, not real quoted rates or figures.

03What this is NOT

04Receipts

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