Bridge from Ethereum to Polygon with Enkrypt
Unlock the potential of DeFi with our tutorial on bridging from Ethereum to Polygon using Enkrypt. Learn the step-by-step process here!
Get your Ethereum assets onto Polygon 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 Polygon, as well as Substrate and Bitcoin chains. Follow the instructions in this guide in order to bridge to Polygon!
Layer 2s and scalability networks like Polygon are compatible with Ethereum, but you can't just send assets from Ethereum to Polygon in a regular transaction. The way to transfer assets between Ethereum and Layer 2s is through applications called bridges.
Like ETH on Ethereum, Polygon also has a native currency, MATIC, 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 Polygon, but once you do that, you will be able to enjoy very low-fee transactions going forward.
To start trading tokens on Polygon instead of Ethereum, bridge your assets to the Polygon 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 ‘Polygon’ 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 Polygon 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.
Note that on Ethereum, ETH is the main currency and MATIC is an ERC-20 token. On Polygon, it's reversed - MATIC is the main currency, and ETH is the ERC-20 token. You will see it as WETH in Enkrypt, and as WETH (wrapped ETH) if you view your address on Polygonscan, the Polygon blockchain explorer.
Enter the amount you want to bridge over to the Polygon network. In this example, we are bridging ETH from Ethereum to WETH (Wrapped ETH) on the Polygon 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’.
Your tokens are now in the process of bridging over to Polygon. The tokens will appear in your wallet on the Polygon network automatically.
You can click ‘Finish’ and continue to use your wallet while your transaction completes.
You can view the progress of your transaction in the ‘Activity’ tab of the Ethereum network.
Once the transaction is completed, you will see the bridged tokens in your Polygon wallet.
Here our ETH was bridged over to Polygon as WETH tokens.
While native MATIC can be used on L2s for transactions and gas fees, WMATIC provides additional functionality. It enables MATIC to be used as collateral, traded on decentralized exchanges, or used to participate in DeFi protocols that require ERC-20 tokens.
To get native MATIC on Polygon you can purchase it directly from Enkrypt.
Buying MATIC with Enkrypt
Select the Polygon network then select the ‘Buy/Sell’ option.
This will bring you to our purchase page, where you can buy crypto from our partners.
Here you can enter how much you would like to buy but there are daily limits on the minimum and maximum you are able to buy. The limits are usually $50 USD minimum and $20,000 USD maximum.
After you enter your desired amount, you can select ‘Buy’ to proceed with the purchase.
Next, choose a provider you want to buy from and follow the steps provided by the provider to complete your purchase.
Now you are ready to swap on the Polygon network - see our guide here.
Thank you for checking out our guide on bridging your tokens to Polygon 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!