How long swap services keep records and what they can still show you

07 September 2026

Most swap services retain transaction records for a period between one and five years. The exact duration depends on the jurisdiction the service operates under and its internal data retention policy. After that window closes, the service typically deletes or anonymises the data, and you lose the ability to request a copy.

Why does this matter? Because if you need to reconstruct a trade for tax reporting or dispute resolution, the swap service is your fallback when your own records are incomplete. If you wait too long, that fallback vanishes.

What records services actually keep

When you complete a swap through a non-custodial exchanger, the service logs:

• Your deposit address and the amount sent
• The destination address and the amount received
• A unique order ID or reference number
• The timestamp of both legs of the swap
• The exchange rate applied at the time of trade

Some services also record the IP address that initiated the swap, though retention periods for IP data are often shorter than for transaction data. A few store a session fingerprint or device identifier.

The service does not store your private keys, wallet seed phrases, or anything from inside your wallet. They see what the blockchain sees: addresses and amounts. They cannot see your balance or other transactions.

What you can still get after deletion

Once the service deletes its logs, you lose the ability to ask them for a confirmation. But the transaction data itself remains on the blockchain. A block explorer can still show you:

• The sending transaction from your wallet
• The receiving transaction at the destination address
• The time each block was confirmed

What you cannot get from the blockchain alone: the exchange rate the service applied, the order ID, or confirmation that the two transactions were linked as a single swap. The blockchain shows two independent transfers. Only the swap service's internal record ties them together.

Why the retention period varies

Different countries impose different data retention requirements on financial service providers. Some require five years of record-keeping for anti-money-laundering compliance. Others require three. Some have no specific rule for crypto swap services at all.

The service's own terms of service usually state its retention policy. If you cannot find it, assume the shorter end of the range. Services that operate without formal registration often keep records for less time, sometimes deleting order data after 90 days.

What to do while records still exist

If you need proof of a swap for tax purposes, request the data while the service still has it. Most provide a downloadable CSV or PDF of your order history. Save that file locally, ideally in two separate places. A USB drive and cloud storage. Or an encrypted email to yourself.

Do not rely on a login-based account history. Many swap services do not require accounts. If they do, your history disappears if the service shuts down or you lose access to the login.

The next step

Once you have the service's record, you still need to match it to what your wallet shows. The sibling page "Reconciling a swap that moved tokens across two different chains" explains how to connect the deposit and withdrawal when the tokens changed networks. That is the step most people miss, and the one that causes reconciliation errors at tax time.

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