How to Move Funds Across Chains

With the rising interest in blockchain technology in the last few years, we have seen various blockchains emerging from development teams of all sizes. Of these, the names like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Solana, etc. stand out. And that’s because a lot of people use them.

That, unfortunately, is where the problem arises. Since they are so popular, many people end up buying tokens in multiple blockchains. That leads us to issues regarding the movement of funds from one blockchain to the other.

If you’re using a centralized exchange, you wouldn’t see this as a big problem because the exchange takes care of the issues for you. But when you’re going for decentralized exchanges, the movement of funds from one blockchain to the other would be an issue for you.

This problem would only give way to even more complications when you’re starting out. Let’s take a look at how you can move funds from one blockchain to the other without overcomplicating things for yourself.

But before diving into the solution, it is important to understand why the movement of funds from one blockchain to another is a big issue in the first place. So let’s start with that first, shall we?

What are Token Standards?

Token standards are a set of rules and regulations that govern the token or coins built upon a specific blockchain. These token standards can be used by developers to create a similar token on an existing blockchain. This is done mainly to ensure that all the tokens built on a particular blockchain function similarly.

Different blockchains have different token standards. For instance, Ethereum has the ERC-20 standard, Binance Smart Chain has the BEP-20 standard, and Solana has the SPL standard. 

Since these token standards are based upon different blockchains, an ERC-20 standard cannot be used on the Solana blockchain. It simply won’t work out.

To use an ERC-20 token on the Solana blockchain, you first need to ensure that you’ve converted the token into an SPL token. For this conversion to happen, there are three major options that one could go for. Let us take a look at each of them in detail.

How to Move Funds Across Chains using Centralized Exchanges?

Using a centralized exchange is the easiest and most convenient way of transferring your token from one blockchain to another. Centralized exchanges are some of the most well-recognized exchanges with examples including Binance, MEXC, etc. 

For moving your funds, the first thing that you need to do is move your tokens to a suitable wallet compatible with the exchange you wish to use. If you feel comfortable using any centralized exchange apart from the ones mentioned above, feel free to go for it. It is only for the sake of the example that we’re quoting these.

So let’s say you wish to move your Ethereum tokens (ETH) to the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). To make it happen, you would need to deposit that ETH in your Binance wallet. Later on, you can withdraw the ETH into a Binance Smart Chain wallet address in the form of a BEP-20 token.

Read this beginner’s guide to learn more about using Binance Smart Chain Wallet.

You have to follow the same procedure while moving your Binance Coin (BNB) to the Solana blockchain. For this, you would have to deposit the BNB tokens to the MEXC exchange wallet. 

Once you have done this, you can use the coins to buy the SPL token of your choice. Alternatively, you can withdraw the BNB tokens into your Solana Wallet in the form of SPL tokens.

In both cases, what Binance and MEXC exchange do is simply wrap your tokens into another token standard. And that token standard is the one that is compatible with the blockchain you want to move your tokens to. 

In most cases, Binance Exchange proves to be more efficient while moving funds to the Binance Smart Chain. Whereas, MEXC works better while transferring funds to the Solana Chain. Apart from this, you can also use other BEP-20 supporting exchanges such as KuCoin, etc.

How to Move Funds Across Chains using Blockchain Bridges?

Another common method of transferring tokens from one blockchain to another is via blockchain bridges. If you wish to move your ERC-20 tokens to the Binance Smart Chain, using the Binance Bridge would be a good idea. 

Similarly, for moving ERC-20 tokens to the Solana Blockchain you can use the Solana Bridge.

Presently, the Binance Bridge supports various blockchains such as the Binance Coin (BNB), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Tron (TRON), EOS, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Cosmos (ATOM). And those are just a few of the many blockchains it supports. 

Therefore, the Binance Bridge can be used for transferring quite a lot of different types of tokens to different blockchains with its support for a whole bunch of them.

On the other hand, the Solana Bridge offers limited compatibility with only the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. So, it can only be used for moving funds across these two blockchains.

Let’s consider the Binance Bridge for now as it is quite easy to use. Let us take a look at the steps you need to follow while using it.

• Firstly, you would need to log into the Binance exchange and go to the Binance Bridge. Once you are out there, connect your wallet to it. This wallet could be your Metamask wallet or your BSC wallet, whichever has the tokens you want to move.
• Now, you need to choose the token you wish to transfer from its existing blockchain. You would also need to choose the blockchain you want to transfer it to.
• The system will now ask you to enter the number of tokens you want to move. If you wish to move all your tokens, you can simply click on the max button. If not, then enter the specific number (of course making sure that it is lower than what have in the wallet).
• Once you have entered the amount, you will be asked to enter the wallet address of the blockchain to which you wish to move your tokens. After entering the address, click on ‘Next’ and you are good to go.

How to Move Funds Across Chains Using Instant Swap Exchanges?

In some cases, transferring tokens from one blockchain to another might require you to pay a high amount of fees. 

This happens a lot while moving funds with high volume. There have been cases where people had to pay close to $19 as a network fee for moving funds from Binance Smart Chain to Ethereum using the Binance Bridge. 

Of course, as an investor, that doesn’t sound like a good deal since it would eat into your profits.

For avoiding such payments, you can use instant swap exchanges like ChangeNow. These exchanges can be used for converting unlimited tokens from one chain to another without requiring any registration in the form of KYC etc. 

Let us take a look at the process involved in changing tokens from one blockchain to another via instant swap exchanges like ChangeNow.

• The first thing you need to do is go to the ChangeNow website. You will see its homepage which looks similar to the image shown below.

• In the ‘You Send’ section you, would need to choose the token that you wish to transfer and the amount of the said token.
• In the ‘You Get’ section mention the token you wish to convert to and the amount will be uploaded automatically based on the live prices of both tokens.
• Now, click on the ‘Exchange’ tab to initiate the transaction. You would then see a new page on which you need to enter the address of the recipient’s wallet.

• Once you have entered the recipient’s wallet address, you will see another window asking for confirmation. Click on the ‘Confirm’ tab.

• Think it’s over? Not quite! You would now see another window showing you all the details of the final transaction before it is executed. If everything looks good, click on ‘Confirm’ and your transaction shall be executed. You can also enter your e-mail ID to receive confirmation. 

And that’s it. You should now have the required tokens in the wallet you mentioned. 

If not, wait for about 5 to 10 minutes. It usually takes that long to process it. Not bad, right?

Before You Go…

When you’re just starting out, even simple things like transferring tokens from one blockchain to another would seem like a huge problem. But as you’ve seen in the article, it is no mountain to scale. Quite on the contrary, with the methods we’ve just gone through, you can transfer your funds from one blockchain to the other without breaking a sweat!

I wouldn’t say that everything in your journey into the world of blockchain would be as easy as this was. Because honestly, there are some pretty complicated things out there. But you would at least not have to worry about this bit. 

That said, for the complicated bits, you could always come to us. Chances are, we might have just the right article for you!

Personal Note From MEXC Team

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