The current state of DeFi is highly fragmented. The liquidity, developers, and decentralized applications on web3 are split across L1s and L2s like Ethereum, Polygon, Binance, etc. Whether for the good or bad, it’s still too early to tell – there are conflicting arguments from both sides – but until then, it’s important to understand how to thrive in this cross-chain world of DeFi.
This article looks to answer some of the common questions: how to transfer assets between Ethereum and Polygon, and how to transfer assets between Binance and Polygon, amongst a few others. Read on!
How to bridge assets between Polygon and Ethereum
For any transfer between Polygon & Ethereum, the Polygon PoS Bridge is your answer! Simply head to the Polygon Wallet, click on “Polygon Bridge”, and connect your wallet. You should see a page like this:
This is your one-stop shop for all Ethereum <> Polygon swaps you wish to make.
Let’s explore three scenarios:
- Bridging ETH from Ethereum to Polygon
- Bridging ETH from Polygon to Ethereum
- Bridging ibBTC (and other assets) between Polygon and Ethereum
Related: A Beginner’s Guide to Ethereum Scaling Solutions
Bridging ETH from Ethereum to Polygon
- Make sure that you’re on the “Deposit” tab (this is typically the default tab, as shown above);
- Select the asset you wish to transfer from the drop-down menu (in this scenario, ETH) and then input the amount for which you want to swap your assets.
- Click on “Transfer”. The hole process should take from 5-8 minutes, and you’ll be able to see the updated amount on Polygon network.
Bridging ETH from Polygon to Ethereum
The process of withdrawing assets from Polygon to Ethereum is similar to the deposit:
- In the Polygon PoS bridge page, select the “Withdraw” tab;
- Select the asset you wish to transfer from the drop-down menu (in this scenario, ETH) and then input the amount for which you want to swap your assets.
- Click on “Transfer”. The withdrawal process is longer than the deposit, it can take from 20 min up to 3 hours.
Bridging ibBTC (and other assets) between Polygon and Ethereum
In case you want to transfer an asset like ibBTC that is not on the standard dropdown list, here is how you should do:
- In the Polygon PoS bridge page click on the assets’ dropdown menu;
- In case you can’t find the assets you wish to bridge in the list (i.e. ibBTC) click on “Manage token list”;
- On the next screen, toggle the “Polygon Tokens Lists” on;
- Return to the previous screen. Now you’ll be able to find ibBTC;
- Select it and hit the “Transfer” button.
Here is a visual explanation of how to select ibBTC from the drop-down menu:
Polygon Token Lists
What we’ve done in the section above was to add another token list in the Polygon bridge app. Polygon Token Lists follow the Ethereum Token Lists standard proposed by Uniswap, to help users dealing with the increasing amount of tokens that are created daily.
The Default Token List is constituted by the top vetted tokens that are bridged the most. This list includes trusted assets as ETH, MATIC, USDC, AAVE among others.
The Polygon Tokens list is an extended list with all assets vetted by the Polygon team, currently constituting 1749 assets in total, including ibBTC used in the aforementioned scenario.
There is also the possibility of creating your own list, or bridge any token not included in the lists above, but you should do this carefully. To have a better understanding on how Polygon Lists work, refer to their blog post.
Related: Understanding the Polygon Scaling Suite
How to bridge assets from any chain to Polygon
There are also other protocol options in case you want to bridge assets across Polygon and other chains.
Transferto.xyz – The Bridge Agregator
For most of your needs for bridging assets, transferto.xyz is a good solution. It’s a bridge aggregator powered by LI.FI, a “bridge aggregation protocol with DEX connectivity and cross-chain data messaging capabilities”.
There are currently 12 chains supported by LI.FI, across 9 bridges. The UX is similar to most of AMMs around, so the process is pretty straightforward:
- Access transferto.xyz;
- Choose the source chain and asset you want to bridge from;
- Choose the target chain and the asset you want to receive;
After entering the amount you want to bridge, the aggregator will show you the possible routes (bridges and swaps) available for you, as well as costs, rates and expected processing time. A route will be previously chosen, but make sure it will feature the best rate.
In the example below, we should change to the 2nd route option for a better rate:
Portal Bridge by Wormhole – bridge assets between Polygon and Solana
If you wish to bridge assets between Polygon and Solana, the standard option today is trough Portal Bridge, previously the Wormhole Portal. Here is how it works:
- Access the Portal Bridge website;
- Set the source and target chains;
- Connect your wallet;
- Select the asset you want to bridge;
- Select the target chain fee payment method;
- Send.
💡 Note: Make sure that you have funds from the “Target” network in your wallet to pay gas fees. In the BSC to Polygon example, you will require some amount of MATIC on the Polygon network in your wallet to pay the gas fees associated with the transaction!
Here is a visual depiction of what is written above.
🚨 Alert: Worth noting that Wormhole bridge was exploited on Feb 2022. All bridges represent certain risk levels, so make sure you do your own research and stay safe.
📕 Recommended reading: Blockchain Bridges: Building Networks of Cryptonetworks
-Aishwary Gupta, DeFinn
Disclaimer: Transferto, Wormhole, and Polygon Bridge are audited. However, there could still be protocol risks, market risks, smart contract risks, and more. Treat these bridges as experimental, and never deposit more money than you can afford to lose.
