Swap USDC cross-chain

Balanced makes it easy to swap between cryptoassets that use different blockchains.

Learn how to swap USDC for cryptocurrencies on other blockchains, and why you should do it on Balanced.


How to swap USDC cross-chain

You can exchange USDC for a variety of cryptoassets, and even move between blockchains in a single trade.

Go to the Trade page and sign in. Then, from the Swap tab:

  1. Choose to swap USDC for another asset.
  2. Choose which blockchains to send and receive on.
  3. Enter an amount for one of the assets. The other will update to reflect the current rate, with fees factored in.
  4. Adjust the slippage tolerance and recipient address (optional).
  5. Click Swap and complete the transaction.

There’s a 0.3% fee for each step in the trade route, and a transfer fee that varies per chain:

  • 0.00006 ETH to transfer from Arbitrum
  • 1 ARCH to transfer from Archway
  • 0.003 AVAX to transfer from Avalanche
  • 0.00006 ETH to transfer from Base

How Balanced swaps crypto cross-chain

Balanced uses General Message Passing (GMP) to power its blockchain connections.

GMP is a cross-chain messaging service that can connect to any interoperability protocol or smart-contract capable blockchain. It relays transaction messages between connected chains, and includes multi-protocol verification to reduce dependency on a single bridge.

Balanced’s core contracts and liquidity reside on the ICON blockchain, which acts as the liquidity hub and settles all transactions from connected chains.

After you confirm your swap, the USDC gets locked in a contract on that blockchain. GMP routes the swap through ICON, and your new asset is unlocked on the destination chain and added to your wallet. If a transaction fails, it reverts.

The amount of USDC available on each supported chain depends on how many people have used it to swap or transfer. If you want to swap a large amount, you may notice limitations on specific blockchains.


Swap cross-chain on Balanced

Visit app.balanced.network to swap between USDC and a range of cryptocurrencies on different blockchains. It’s fast, affordable, and your crypto stays wrapper-free.

To learn more about Balanced, check out the website, read the docs, and join the Balanced community on Discord.