What is a cross-chain swap?
Every blockchain keeps its own ledger, so a token on Ethereum cannot simply move to Base on its own. For years the workaround was a bridge: lock tokens in a bridge contract, wait for a wrapped copy to appear on the other network, then swap that copy for the token you actually want, paying gas at every stop. A cross-chain swap collapses the whole trip into one order. You choose what you pay with and what you want to receive, sign once and the swap settles on both chains. Custody never changes hands along the way: assets move from contract to contract, never through an account someone else controls. Try it on the swap form.
When does a cross-chain swap make sense?
Reaching for one is usually about where your assets sit versus where you want them to work:
- Moving activity to a network with lower gas costs without routing funds through a centralized account.
- Buying a token that only has real market depth on its home network.
- Funding a new network for the first time, including its gas token, in one step.
- Consolidating balances scattered across several chains back into one asset on one network.
How does a cross-chain swap work on 1inch?
1inch uses an intent-based model. Instead of sending transactions on each network yourself, you sign an order that describes the outcome you want: the token and chain you pay with, the token and chain you receive and the minimum amount you accept. Verified professionals called resolvers then compete in a declining-price auction for the right to fill your order, and the winner does the on-chain work on both networks.
- 1
Pick the pair
On 1inch, select the token and chain you are swapping from, then the token and chain you want to receive.
- 2
Review the quote
The quote shows the rate, the costs and the minimum you will receive if the price moves while the order fills.
- 3
Sign the order
Click Permit and Swap and confirm in your wallet. There is no need to hold native tokens for gas.
- 4
The resolver settles both sides
The winning resolver locks assets in escrow contracts on both chains and completes the swap. The destination token arrives in your wallet.
The signature is the whole job. An intent states the outcome you accept rather than the exact route, which lets resolvers hunt for the best path while your minimum received stays fixed. That shape is why the approach is called intent-based: you commit to an outcome, not a procedure. If no resolver fills the order before it expires, nothing happens and nothing is spent.
Why is bridging by hand riskier?
A classic lock-and-mint bridge pools everyone's locked tokens in one contract, which makes it a single target with a very public address. A bridge must also accept messages from another chain, and a forged message or a stolen validator key can unlock everyone's funds at once. That is not a hypothetical: Chainalysis counted about $2 billion stolen across 13 cross-chain bridge exploits in 2022, which was 69% of all crypto stolen that year, and the Ronin bridge attack alone took about $625 million. Even when nothing is hacked, manual bridging leaves practical gaps:
- You often receive a wrapped copy of the asset, which keeps its value only while the bridge behind it stays healthy, as holders of Multichain-wrapped tokens learned when that bridge failed in 2023.
- You need the destination chain's gas token before you can do anything with what arrived.
- Each extra step, from the bridge to the gas top-up to the final swap, is a separate transaction that can fail or be front-run on its own.
How does a cross-chain swap compare with a bridge?
- Transactions you send
- Three or more with a bridge; one signed order with a cross-chain swap
- Gas tokens you need
- Source and destination gas with a bridge; none held in advance with a cross-chain swap
- What you receive
- Often a wrapped copy from a bridge; the destination token itself from a swap
- If something goes wrong
- Funds can strand mid-route on a bridge; escrows refund both sides of a swap automatically
What protects the swap while it is in flight?
Cross-chain swaps on 1inch settle through escrow contracts secured by hashlocks and timelocks, the same mechanism behind classic atomic swaps. The resolver locks assets in an escrow on each chain, and one secret value unlocks both. The secret is only shared once both escrows are verified and each chain has reached finality; if it is never revealed, the timelocks expire and each side gets its assets back. Nobody can take your tokens without releasing theirs. Read how atomic swaps enforce this. The full design is in the 1inch white paper on atomic cross-chain swaps (PDF).
Which networks can you swap across?
1inch supports cross-chain swaps across 13+ networks, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Gnosis, Linea, Unichain, Sonic, zkSync Era and Solana, so routes span EVM chains and beyond. Newer networks join over time: Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum layer 2 for tokenized real-world assets, is already supported.
Pricing comes from the same routing engine as same-chain swaps, with competitive rates, aggregated across 300+ sources. The minimum received you approved is enforced by the order itself, and MEV protection is included: your order is filled by resolvers rather than sitting in a public mempool where bots can reorder it. Read how MEV protection works.
Common questions
Yes. With 1inch, you can make cross-chain swaps directly in the app or wallet app, moving assets between supported networks in one transaction.
No. Resolvers pay the gas on both networks and the costs are already reflected in your quote. If you want the destination chain's native token for later use, simply make it the token you receive.
Usually minutes. Both chains must reach finality before the funds unlock, so the exact timing depends on the networks in the route rather than on you: once the order is signed, no further action is needed on your side.
The escrow timelocks expire and the locked assets return to their owners automatically. An incomplete swap means nothing moved: you keep your tokens and can place the order again.
No. A bridge moves a representation of one asset between chains and usually leaves you with follow-up steps. A cross-chain swap is one order that pays with one token and receives another, with the routing handled for you.
No. You receive the destination asset itself. The escrows hold real tokens on each chain, so there is no wrapped representation whose value depends on a bridge staying solvent.
New to swapping? Start with what a crypto swap is, or browse every guide on the learn hub.
Swap across chains from your own wallet
Pick the token and chain you pay with, then the token and chain you receive. One signature does the rest.
