# How Long a Quote Holds, and What Happens When It Expires > Quote windows run from a few seconds to a minute. What the venue does at the end of that window is the part worth knowing. - Source: https://swapcostnotes.com/how-long-a-quote-holds/ - Published: 2026-09-24 - Author: Lena Virtanen - Publication: Swap Cost Notes — What the conversion actually took - Topic: exchange - Tags: exchange, quotes, method --- A quoted rate is a commitment with an expiry. The length of the window and the behaviour at expiry differ by venue and are rarely compared. ## The window Typically between five and sixty seconds on retail screens. Some venues show a countdown; others refresh silently. A silent refresh is the harder case, because the number you decided on and the number you accepted may not be the same. ## What happens at expiry Three behaviours. The quote refreshes and you must accept the new one. The quote expires and the transaction is cancelled. Or the transaction proceeds at the prevailing rate, which is the one to watch for. The third is sometimes described as executing at market, and it means the commitment was never a commitment. ## Why the window length matters Longer windows transfer risk from you to the venue. The venue prices that risk into the quote, which is why a sixty second quote is usually slightly wider than a five second one. That is a fair trade and it should be visible as a choice rather than a surprise. ## Where it matters most Large amounts, volatile conditions, and any process with a human in the loop. A quote that expires while someone confirms a payment internally is useless for business use. [An exchange that holds the quote long enough to read it](https://collectnexchange.cy/services/swap) is solving an operational problem rather than a pricing one. ## The measurement Note the quoted output, wait until just before expiry, accept, and compare the received amount. Repeat a few times in different conditions. A venue that honours its quote will match. One that does not will show a pattern of small adverse differences. ## What to ask before a large conversion How long the quote holds, what happens at expiry, and whether the quote applies to the full amount or only to the first part of it. The third question catches the case where a quote is honoured for a slice and the rest fills at market. [Collect & Exchange, where the quote holds for the whole amount](https://collectnexchange.cy/), answers that one explicitly, which is unusual enough to be worth asking everywhere else. ## The practical habit Treat any quote without a visible expiry as indicative. [Venues that quote the swap rate and the fee as two numbers](https://collectnexchange.cy/services/crypto-exchange) generally show the window beside them, and the absence of both is itself the answer. --- This article explains how something works. It is not financial advice. Canonical HTML version: https://swapcostnotes.com/how-long-a-quote-holds/