Cross-chain swapping (also known as bridging) lets you trade one token for another on a different network, such as turning SOL into BTC, or ETH on Ethereum into ETH on Robinhood Chain. Phantom routes your swap through trusted providers to find the best available price.

How cross-chain swapping works #

When you swap tokens between two different blockchains, Phantom routes the transaction through a bridge. A bridge is a third-party service that locks or burns your tokens on the source network, then releases or mints equivalent tokens on the destination network.

Phantom supports several bridge providers, including LI.FI (which itself integrates tools like Mayan), Relay, deBridge, and Garden. Phantom's quote engine compares quotes across these providers and automatically selects the route with the best balance of speed, fees, and liquidity. You don't choose a bridge yourself.

A cross-chain swap typically has three or four steps:

1. Your token is swapped or wrapped on the source network if needed, for example SOL to USDC on Solana before bridging.
2. The bridge locks or burns your tokens on the source network.
3. Validators or relayers confirm the transaction across both networks. This is where most of the wait time is spent.
4. The bridge releases or mints tokens on the destination network. If the destination token differs from what the bridge delivered, Phantom does a final same-network swap.

Each step requires confirmations on its blockchain, which is why cross-chain swaps take longer than same-network swaps.

Wait times #

Cross-chain swaps take longer than same-network swaps because they require confirmations on two blockchains plus bridge processing time. Actual duration varies significantly by route, network congestion, and which bridge provider is used. It can range from under a minute to well over an hour, and Bitcoin routes in particular tend to run longer due to block confirmation requirements.

If the swap screen shows "1 minute remaining" but the swap isn't done, this is normal. The on-screen estimate reflects bridge processing time, not the underlying blockchain confirmation time, and can understate how long a swap actually takes.

Fees #

A cross-chain swap can have up to four fee components:

The quote shown before you confirm includes all of these. If you receive less than the quoted amount, check the transaction on a block explorer to see exactly where the difference came from.

Bitcoin network fees can be unpredictable. During periods of high congestion, your transaction may sit in the mempool longer than usual. Phantom does not currently let you manually adjust Bitcoin fees.

Bitcoin swaps #

Bitcoin is fundamentally different from Solana, Ethereum, and other EVM networks, and that affects how Bitcoin swaps work in Phantom.

Bitcoin address types #

Phantom supports two Bitcoin address types:

• Native SegWit (addresses starting with bc1q...): The older, more widely supported format.
• Taproot (addresses starting with bc1p...): The newer format with privacy and efficiency benefits.

Both are derived from the same wallet but have separate balances. BTC received at a Native SegWit address won't appear in your Taproot balance in Phantom until you turn it on, and vice versa.

To switch between address types, go to Settings > Preferences > Preferred Bitcoin Addresses. For more information, see Supported Bitcoin addresses in Phantom.

Why some Bitcoin swap routes are grayed out #

Not all Bitcoin swap routes are available for every address type. If you try to swap from BTC to a network like Polygon and the option is grayed out or you see "No quotes available," it's because none of the supported bridge providers currently support that specific combination of BTC address type and destination route.

To work around this, switch to the other Bitcoin address type if you have a balance there, or swap BTC to SOL or ETH first and then swap to the token you need.

Bitcoin swap timing quirks #

• Confirmations matter. Bitcoin needs multiple block confirmations before the bridge releases destination tokens. Each block is roughly 10 minutes. A swap can sit at "Pending" for a while and still be on track.
• The on-screen timer is bridge time, not Bitcoin time. Don't rely on a short countdown for Bitcoin swaps: it reflects bridge processing, not the Bitcoin block timer.
• Mempool congestion. During heavy Bitcoin network activity, your transaction may take longer to confirm. Check mempool.space to see current congestion.

After a Bitcoin swap completes #

• Check both Native SegWit and Taproot balances. The bridge may deliver to one address type even if you expected the other.
  Charts and balance displays may take a moment to update. If your balance doesn't appear shortly after the swap completing, restart the app.

Supported Bitcoin swap routes #

See Supported Bitcoin swap routes in Phantom.

Find which step is stuck #

Use LI.FI Scan to match your situation to the right action:

Should you retry a stuck swap? No. Retrying may create a duplicate transaction. Wait for the bridge to finish.

What if my funds are stuck? #

If the source transaction confirmed but the bridge has been stalled or failed for more than an hour, contact Phantom Support with the following:

• Source and destination wallet addresses.
• Source transaction hash or signature (find this in your wallet history). On Solana this is an 88-character base58 string. On Ethereum, Robinhood Chain, Base, Polygon, Arc, it's 66 characters starting with 0x. On Bitcoin it's 64 hexadecimal characters with no 0x prefix.
• The amount and tokens involved, for example 0.001 BTC to SOL.
• A screenshot of the swap status screen if available.

Phantom Support cannot reverse a bridge transaction or force the bridge to complete, but with this information we can escalate to the bridge provider.

If your source-side transaction confirmed but the destination transaction never appeared on the destination blockchain at all, do not reset your wallet. Resetting will not recover the missing leg and may erase transaction history. Contact support with both wallet addresses and the source transaction hash so we can escalate to the bridge provider.

"No quotes available" #

None of the supported bridge providers could find a route for that exact token pair. The most reliable workaround is to use a widely supported intermediate token:

• On the source network, swap your token to USDC, ETH, or SOL.
• Do the cross-chain swap with that common token.
• On the destination network, swap the common token to the token you actually wanted.

This adds an extra fee, but it almost always works because USDC, ETH, and SOL have the deepest cross-chain liquidity.

Swap simulation failed #

Phantom simulates the transaction before submitting it. If the simulation fails, the swap won't go through. Causes include:

• Token has trading restrictions (some tokens block contract-initiated transfers).
• Bridge route has temporary liquidity issues.
• Slippage tolerance is too low. Try increasing it slightly.

Swap failed after loading #

The bridge may have hit a liquidity issue or timeout mid-way. Try:

• A slightly smaller amount.
• A different intermediate token (for example, go through USDT instead of USDC).
• Waiting a few minutes and trying again. Bridge liquidity refreshes regularly.

Received less than expected #

Cross-chain swaps stack fees: source gas, bridge fee, destination gas, and price impact. The quote shown before confirming includes all of these. If the final amount is significantly below the quote, check both the source and destination explorer to see the exact deductions at each step. Slippage protection limits how much less you can receive, but small differences are normal.