How do you bridge crypto from one blockchain to another?

To bridge crypto, you connect a wallet to a bridge, choose the chain your tokens are on and the chain you want them on, approve the transfer and wait. The bridge locks, burns or swaps your tokens on the first network and delivers matching tokens on the second. How bridges work in principle is covered in what a crypto bridge is.

How do you bridge crypto on MetaMask?

MetaMask's help center describes a short flow. Open the Swap screen, choose the network and token you are sending, then the network and token you want to receive. Review and approve the requests, start the transfer and wait. MetaMask says this can take around five to ten minutes on each chain. Then switch to the destination network, where you may need to add the token manually.

MetaMask warns that some tokens cannot move between certain networks and that sending them anyway can mean losing them for good. It also says to read every approval carefully, because an approval gives a contract access to your tokens. Fake bridge sites exploit this step, as covered in phishing and wallet drainers.

How do you bridge Ethereum to Base or Arbitrum?

Both are Ethereum layer 2s with official bridges.

• Base. Base's docs say deposits from Ethereum to Base through the standard bridge do not wait. Withdrawals back to Ethereum have a 5-day finalization window, or 1 day when certain proofs back the proposal. The old bridge.base.org page has been retired, and Base points users to interfaces such as Superbridge. Coinbase account holders can also withdraw ETH, USDC and cbBTC directly to Base.
• Arbitrum. The official bridge is at bridge.arbitrum.io. Arbitrum's docs say deposits usually arrive in about 15 to 30 minutes, while withdrawals to Ethereum take at least seven days. After the countdown you press Claim in the Transactions tab.

Third-party bridges such as Across, Relay and Stargate are much faster. Base's docs note that these fast bridges do not share Base's security, so you depend on the provider's contracts and liquidity. Base suggests checking which bridge an aggregator has selected and testing with a small amount first.

How do you bridge Ethereum or USDC to Solana or Base?

Solana does not use Ethereum's address format, so you need a Solana address to receive. Since May 2025, MetaMask has supported Solana accounts and bridging between Solana and EVM networks inside the wallet, according to Consensys. Base's docs list a dedicated Base to Solana bridge as well.

USDC can move natively through Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP). Instead of wrapping, CCTP burns USDC on the source chain, Circle attests to the burn, and fresh USDC is minted on the destination chain. As of October 2026, Circle lists Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum and Solana among supported chains. A Fast Transfer option settles sooner for a fee. The USDC you receive is the issuer's own token, not a wrapped copy.

Every route costs network fees, and you need some of the destination chain's gas token to move funds later. See what gas fees are.