Bridge from Ethereum to Optimism with Enkrypt
Bridging to Optimism L2 is surprisingly easy, especially after you've done it a few times. Follow our guide to get started!
Get your Ethereum assets onto Optimism to start using web3 with lower fees
Enkrypt is a multichain, non-custodial, and open-source web3 browser wallet built by the team behind MEW (MyEtherWallet). With Enkrypt, users and developers can generate accounts, manage tokens and NFTs, and interact with DApps on Optimism, as well as Substrate and Bitcoin chains. Follow the instructions in this guide in order to bridge to Optimism!
Layer 2s and scalability networks like Optimism are compatible with Ethereum, but you can't just send assets from Ethereum to Optimism in a regular transaction. The way to transfer assets between Ethereum and Layer 2s is through applications called bridges.
Like ETH on Ethereum, Optimism also has ETH as its native currency that you need to pay for network fees. However, the gas fees are much lower and transactions are faster than on the Ethereum mainnet. You will need to spend some crypto in Ethereum fees initially to bridge your assets to Optimism, but once you do that, you will be able to enjoy very low-fee transactions going forward.
To start trading tokens on Optimism instead of Ethereum, bridge your assets to the Optimism network.
Using the Optimism Bridge to Bridge ETH
Select the Optimism network on the left side menu then select the ‘Dapps’ tab at the bottom and select ‘Optimism Bridge’
Optimism Bridge is a third-party DApp and is not affiliated with MEW in any way. Bridging assets from network to network involves some inherent risk. Please do your research and proceed at your own discretion.
You will be brought to the official Optimism Bridge. You may see a pop up about the Terms of Service, click ‘Accept’ to continue to the Optimism Bridge.
Click ‘Connect wallet’ at the top right of the screen.
Click the ‘MetaMask’ option.
This works because Enkrypt supports the same connection as MetaMask, so any DApp that supports MetaMask also supports Enkrypt.
On the Enkrypt pop up, select the account you want to connect with then click ‘Connect’.
Now you should be able to select which network and token you would like to bridge to Optimism.
For this example we will bridge ETH from the Ethereum network to native ETH on the Optimism network.
Enter the amount you want to bridge over then click ‘Review deposit’.
Here you will see the gas fee, the amount of ETH you will receive on Optimism and the time to transfer.
Click ‘Deposit’ to proceed with the bridging process.
On the Enkrypt pop up, click ‘Send’ to confirm the transaction.
You should now see the pop up display ‘Deposit en route to Optimism’. You can click the ‘Etherscan’ link to view the progress of your transaction on the Ethereum network.
You can also view the progress of your bridging transaction, by selecting your address dropdown then select ‘Bridge history’.
You should see that your transaction is in the ‘Deposits’ tab and will display as ‘Pending’ but will change to ‘Completed’ once the ETH is in your Optimism wallet.
You should see your ETH in your Optimism wallet now.
Now you are ready to swap on the Optimism network - see our guide here. (Optimism swap guide link) You can also bridge tokens other than ETH directly to the Optimism network using the steps below.
Using Enkrypt to Bridge tokens to Optimism Network
Select the Ethereum network on the left side menu then select the ‘Swap’ option.
Click the ‘Ethereum’ dropdown menu to open the token selection menu.
Here you will see all the tokens in your wallet. Select the token you want to bridge over.
Select the ‘To Network’ dropdown menu to open the network selection menu.
Select the ‘Optimism’ network.
Click ‘Select token’ to open the token selection menu.
Note that with a regular swap, you are usually trading tokens on the same network. Here we are using the Enkrypt swap feature to move tokens to another network.
Select the token you want to receive on the Optimism network.
While you will usually want to bridge to the same token, you can also bridge to a different token on the other network in one step. This is also known as a cross-chain swap.
Enter the amount you want to bridge over to the Optimism network. In this example, we are bridging USDC from Ethereum to USDC.e (Bridged USDC) on the Optimism network.
Click ‘Preview swap’ to continue.
Here you will be able to see the best exchange rate offered. You may receive a warning if the bridging rate is not ideal.
If you are satisfied with the rate you can click ‘Proceed with swap’.
The bridging process will be initiated. Once the transaction is completed you will see your tokens in your wallet on the Optimism network.
You can click ‘Finish’ and continue to use your wallet while your transaction completes.
You can click the ‘Activity’ tab at the bottom to view the progress of your transaction.
Once the transaction is complete, you can click on the Optimism network and see that your tokens have been bridged over. In this example, our USDC was bridged over as USDC.e.
Now you are ready to swap on the Optimism network - see our guide here.
Thank you for checking out our guide on bridging your tokens to Optimism with Enkrypt! Don't forget to download Enkrypt for a seamless web3 multichain wallet experience. We would love to hear from you on our social media about any guide suggestions you have for the future. Also, if you enjoy using mobile cryptocurrency wallets, give our MEW Wallet mobile app a try, it's available on both iOS and Android platforms!