# On-Ramp And Off-Ramp

> On-ramp and off-ramp as compound cross-rail operation families distinct from plain conversions, deposits, or withdrawals.

Source: https://business-api-docs.youhodler.com/docs/concepts/ramps

`On-ramp` and `Off-ramp` are first-class compound operation families.
They model end-to-end cross-rail flows: bringing fiat-originated value
into a crypto-denominated operating outcome (on-ramp), or taking
crypto-denominated operating value into a fiat-side payout (off-ramp).

> **Coming soon:** Public API surfaces for on-ramp and off-ramp are being prepared.

## Why Ramps Are Their Own Family

Ramps are not synonyms for any single primitive on the platform. The
canonical model keeps them distinct from related concepts:

- **Not a pure `Conversion`.** A conversion may be embedded as one leg
inside a ramp, but a ramp also covers payment/payout method
selection, settlement on the fiat side, and (optionally) a hosted
initiation step. Collapsing a ramp into a conversion loses that
cross-rail context.
- **Not just a deposit or a withdrawal.** A direct fiat deposit or
crypto withdrawal is a single-rail operation. A ramp explicitly
spans both rails as one business action.
- **Not a provider checkout or session.** Hosted/embedded UX surfaces
(widgets, checkout URLs, session tokens) are optional delivery
artifacts. The operation, not the session, is the canonical audit
and status resource.

## Canonical Layers

Ramps will be modeled as several distinct layers, each with its own
surface:

- **Reference availability** — supported corridors: fiat currencies,
crypto assets, payment methods, payout methods, countries.
- **Quote** — a bounded executable offer with explicit economics and
an expiry. Quote does not move money on its own.
- **Operation** — the canonical customer-visible business action
(`OnRamp` or `OffRamp`), resolved to a master or client account
scope. Stable audit and status resource.
- **Settlement and outcome** — what actually happened on the
fiat/crypto side and what the platform recognized in the ledger.
Settlement records are inputs to the operation, not its identity.

Hosted-session resources, when used, sit alongside the operation as
optional initiation context — never as a substitute for it.

## Composite Fees

Ramp economics are composite by nature: a single ramp can carry a
payment-method fee, a payout fee, a network fee where relevant, and a
conversion spread. The model keeps these breakdowns explicit so an
integrator can show the end customer where each component comes from,
without flattening everything into a single opaque charge.