How do SDAs work?

What is a Smart Deposit Address?

A Smart Deposit Address (SDA) is an onchain address that accepts inbound stablecoin transfers from a number of different chains and automatically handles bridging, swapping and transformation to your configured destination chain and token.

Unlike a standard bridge flow, the depositor doesn't interact with a smart contract directly, connect a wallet, or manually select a network, instead they simply send funds to the address on any supported chain and Rhino.fi handles the routing activity - however complex. This enables seamless multi-chain deposits with deterministic settlement on the desired destination chain and token.

How an SDA Is Created

SDAs are created via a single POST /deposit-addresses API call and support both bridge-only and bridge-and-swap flows, as well as post-bridge actions and webhook callbacks, across 16 different EVM and non-EVM networks. They ensure that your users can have a simple and fast deposit flow with the onchain complexity completely abstracted away by Rhino.fi.

An SDA is generated based on:

• A specified destination address

• A specified destination token

• Predefined routing logic configured by the client

Each SDA is uniquely tied to the intended settlement parameters.

What Happens When Funds Are Sent

When a user transfers funds to the SDA:

1. Rhino.fi detects the incoming transaction.

2. The system validates the token, chain, and routing parameters.

3. Rhino.fi triggers the crediting process on the destination chain.

4. The destination address receives the requested token, minus applicable fees.

From the user’s perspective, the process appears as a simple transfer, even though cross-chain routing and token conversion may occur behind the scenes.

Air-Gapped Crediting Model

The crediting process is designed for operational robustness and speed.

Rhino.fi credits funds on the destination chain using its own liquidity. The credited amount equals the processed amount minus applicable fees. The funds sent to the SDA are independently swept into Rhino.fi contracts on the source chain.

This air-gapped model ensures:

• Deterministic settlement

• Faster crediting

• Reduced execution risk

• No dependency on synchronous bridge finality

Transaction Linking & Transparency

The source-chain deposit and the destination-chain credit are not directly linked on-chain.

They can be programmatically associated by the client through the Rhino.fi History Endpoint, which provides:

• Source transaction reference

• Destination transaction reference

• Routing details

• Settlement status

This allows clients to reconcile deposits end-to-end while maintaining operational simplicity for end users.

Summary

Smart Deposit Addresses enable:

• One-step multi-chain deposits

• Automated routing and token conversion

• Liquidity-backed destination crediting

• Deterministic settlement

• Programmatic reconciliation

SDAs remove cross-chain complexity for users while preserving control, flexibility, and transparency for clients.

For implementation details and integration support, please contact your Rhino.fi account representative.