Bridge from Ethereum to Arbitrum with Enkrypt

Get your Ethereum assets onto Arbitrum 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 Arbitrum, as well as Substrate and Bitcoin chains. Follow the instructions in this guide in order to bridge to Arbitrum!

Layer 2s and scalability networks like Arbitrum are compatible with Ethereum, but you can't just send assets from Ethereum to Arbitrum in a regular transaction. The way to transfer assets between Ethereum and Layer 2s is through applications called bridges.

Like ETH on Ethereum, Arbitrum 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 Arbitrum, but once you do that, you will be able to enjoy very low-fee transactions going forward.

To start trading tokens on Arbitrum instead of Ethereum, bridge your assets to the Arbitrum 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 ‘Arbitrum’ option. 

Click the ‘Select token’ dropdown 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 Arbitrum 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 Arbitrum network. In this example, we are bridging ETH from Ethereum to WETH (Wrapped ETH) on the Arbitrum 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 Arbitrum 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 Arbitrum network and see that your tokens have been bridged over. In this example, our ETH was bridged over as WETH.

While native ETH can be used on L2s for transactions and gas fees, WETH provides additional functionality. It enables ETH to be used as collateral, traded on decentralized exchanges, or used to participate in DeFi protocols that require ERC-20 tokens.

To get native ETH on Arbitrum you can use the official Arbitrum Bridge.

Bridging to Arbitrum Native ETH using Arbitrum Bridge

Go to the DApps tab at the bottom right then select the ‘Arbitrum Bridge’. You will be taken to the web3 site of the official Arbitrum Bridge, a bridge that supports multiple networks including Ethereum and Arbitrum.

Arbitrum 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.

Click ‘Connect Wallet’ at the top right of the page.

Select the ‘MetaMask’ option. This works because Enkrypt supports the same connection as MetaMask, so any DApp that supports MetaMask will support Enkrypt.

On the Enkrypt pop up, select the account you want to connect with then click ‘Connect’.

You can choose which network you want to bridge from by clicking the ‘From: Ethereum’ dropdown menu. For this example we will select ‘Ethereum’.

Select the token dropdown menu to change which token to bridge.

Enter the amount you want to bridge. You will see the amount it will cost in gas to bridge your tokens to the Arbitrum network. Click ‘Move funds to Arbitrum One’ to proceed.

On the Enkrypt pop up, click ‘Send’ to confirm the transaction.

Once you confirm the transaction, a side menu will pop up on the right with the pending transaction and the estimated amount of time for the bridging process to complete.

You can click ‘See Details’ to view more information about the process.

Once the process is completed, the details page will state that the ‘Funds arrived on Arbitrum One’.

You can also see that the tokens have been received on the Arbitrum network in your Enkrypt wallet.

Now you are ready to swap on the Arbitrum network - see our guide here.

Thank you for checking out our guide on bridging your tokens to Arbitrum 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!

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