How to Transfer Tokens Between the World's Leading Blockchains

Since Bitcoin paved the way for cryptocurrencies in 2009, several other blockchains have emerged. From Ethereum to Cardano, Polkadot, and Polygon (formerly Matic), the proliferation of smart-contract blockchains has fragmented the cryptocurrency industry into isolated islands of value. What this means is that different blockchains cannot effectively communicate with each other.

Such a setup generally makes it cumbersome for investors and traders to move their digital assets across different blockchains. However, thanks to several DeFi solutions and exchanges, it is becoming easier to transfer tokens from one blockchain to another.

Speaking of popular blockchains, Ethereum is undoubtedly the leading blockchain, second only to Bitcoin. The Ethereum network has grown to become a cornerstone for the DeFi and NFT markets, dominating every metric with regards to its usage for decentralized applications.

Just like Bitcoin, the Ethereum blockchain has its own flaws, particularly in the area of high transaction fees and throughput (i.e. the number of transactions the network can handle per second). This has given birth to other blockchains such as Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Polygon.

In addition to Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Polygon are arguably three of the most popular blockchains in the crypto space. For the purpose of this article, we will consider how to transfer funds between these three leading blockchains.

How to transfer tokens from Ethereum to BSC

To transfer your tokens, whether Bitcoin, Ether, USDT, or ADA from Ethereum to BSC, you will need to use the Binance Bridge. Binance Bridge essentially allows anyone to convert selected tokens into “wrapped” or “pegged” versions that can be used on Binance Chain or Binance Smart Chain.

To get started, you must have a MetaMask or Binance Smart Chain Wallet installed. This will allow you to interact with BSC-centric assets.

Next, visit the Binance Bridge page and connect your wallet.

As can be seen in the image above, Binance Bridge currently supports four networks, including the Ethereum network, Tron (TRX) network, Binance Chain network, and OMNI network, which is currently suspended.

Once your wallet has been connected, select the network you wish to transfer your tokens from and the cryptocurrency you would like to migrate.

Select the number of tokens you want to transfer and then confirm the transaction.

Note that you will be required to pay a transaction fee to successfully complete the process. And since you are on the Binance network, the said transaction fee will be in the form of Binance’s native token, BNB.

To verify that the transaction was successful, you can search for your transaction ID on BscScan.

How to transfer tokens from BSC to Polygon

Along with Binance Smart Chain, the Polygon network has gained a lot of traction lately, as it boasts some of the lowest transaction fees. Transferring tokens from Binance Smart Chain to Polygon is quite similar to the process already described above. However, it is worth mentioning that not all cross-chain bridges currently support Polygon swaps. For instance, the option to transfer tokens from BSC to Polygon is not available on the Binance Bridge. 

Notwithstanding, there are many other cross-chain bridges that support multiple networks and assets. I will use RelayChain as an example because it is currently offering Bridging as a Service to popular decentralized exchanges and dApps. For almost a year, the platform powered the Zero Exchange DEX, which surpassed $70 Million in total value locked (TVL), as well as securely handled more than $1 Billion in transactions.

To transfer tokens from BSC to Polygon, follow the steps below.

As before, you need to have a MetaMask wallet.

Ensure you have sufficient funds in your account, as you will be required to pay for gas fees.

Open the Relay cross-chain bridge page and connect your MetaMask wallet.

Select the token you would like to transfer and the amount. This can be anything from BNB, zUSDT, or zETH.

Choose the chain you would like to move the tokens to, which in this case is Polygon.

Once done, hit the transfer button.

The average transaction time is 2 minutes, but it can take up to 15.

How to transfer tokens from Ethereum to Polygon

To wrap up this article, we will quickly run through how to transfer tokens from the Ethereum blockchain to Polygon. Keep in mind that there are countless other cross-chain bridges in addition to those already mentioned in this article.

Just like Binance, Polygon has its own bridge known as the Polygon Bridge. The process of transferring tokens on the Polygon Bridge is essentially the same as the two processes already described above.