In this article, we’ll compare 3 ways of moving tokens to Immutable zkEVM to help you save on transaction fees.
In this article:
- Introduction
- Bridging From Ethereum
- Purchasing $IMX Directly on I-zkEVM
- Bridging From IMX to I-zkEVM
- Conclusion: Which is Cheapest?
Introduction
Hi Folks! Welcome to another post on GameFi Nexus.
In this entry, we deal with a subject I see as one of the biggest pain points for both new and experienced crypto users — getting your tokens from one place to the other without paying an arm and a leg in fees.
New blockchains can be especially frustrating to work with simply because there aren’t many options available to help you with this.
Immutable zkEVM (I-zkEVM for short), Immutable’s brand-new low-cost blockchain, is no exception.
In this article, I’ll compare three ways to onboard your tokens on this new protocol to help you decide which is cheapest for you. They are:
- Bridging from Ethereum
- Purchasing $IMX directly on Immutable zkEVM
- Bridging from IMX to Immutable zkEVM
If you’re a fan of Immutable games and haven’t used I-zkEVM yet, this article is for you.
Let’s get started!
Bridging From Ethereum
This first scenario is probably the most common for new users. It involves:
- Using Coinbase to Buy $IMX
- Creating a Passport Account (optional)
- Bridging $IMX to I-zkEVM using the Immutable Toolkit
- Swapping $IMX With Quickswap
Why $IMX?
Gas fees on I-zkEVM are paid with that token and there’s no $IMX faucet to get you started.
Once you bridge $IMX over, you can swap it for the token you need. That lets you avoid paying for an extra (costly) transaction on Ethereum.
Step 1: Using Coinbase to Buy $IMX
Since I’m in Canada, I’m somewhat limited in the number of CEX I can use legally.
I’ve come to rely on Coinbase because it’s one of the largest and most reliable platforms I can access. It’s easy to use, supports multiple chains, and has the largest selection of tokens.
Purchasing CAD 350 in $IMX cost me CAD 5.14 in trading fees (or roughly 1.4%).
If you trade a lot, you also have the option to sign up for a Coinbase One account for USD 30/month to save on the trading fees.
Sending my IMX tokens to my wallet on Ethereum cost me an additional CAD 4.99 in gas fees.
If you’re using Metamask, you’ll need to import the $IMX token to your wallet before you can see your balance. Here’s the Ethereum token address to save you some time: 0xf57e7e7c23978c3caec3c3548e3d615c346e79ff
Step 2: Creating a Passport Account
If you intend to play any Immutable game on I-zkEVM, you’ll need to create a Passport account — the native wallet on IMX and Immutable zkEVM.
I won’t cover the sign-up process in this article, however, it’s fairly straightforward and you can complete it using Google authentication to connect it to one of your Google accounts.
If you don’t want to use Passport, you also have the option to bridge your tokens to Metamask or any other wallets supported by Wallet Connect.
You can always transfer tokens to Passport over I-zkEVM at a later date as long as you have $IMX to pay gas fees.
Step 3: Bridging Your Tokens Using the Immutable Toolkit
With $IMX tokens and a Passport account, you can head over to the Immutable Toolkit to bridge the tokens to I-zkEVM.
From the main screen, select the “Bridge” option from the left-hand menu, and then:
- Select what wallet you’re bridging from
2. Select Ethereum as the network you’re bridging from
3. Select your Immutable Passport (or other supported wallet) as the destination
4. Select the IMX token
5. Review the transaction and confirm
Note the USD 20 fee!
And that’s not all! You’ll need to approve another transaction to give the bridge smart contract permission to access your funds after you hit confirm.
Once you approve the spending cap and the bridge transaction, the move will start.
You can check the status of your transaction by clicking on the rocket ship icon that now appears in the UI.
All the transactions I’ve made so far using this bridge took around 10 minutes to complete.
Keep in mind that results can vary greatly when it comes to bridging from one chain to another, and it’s not uncommon for these transactions to take a few hours.
Step 3: Swapping $IMX With Quickswap
Now that we have $IMX on Passport, we can use the “Swap” option in the Immutable Toolkit to swap for another token.
Note that the native swap only supports $IMX, $ETH, $USDC, and $GOG at the moment.
All you have to do is select the tokens you want to exchange and click on the “Swap” button to proceed. A second pop-up will appear asking you to verify the transaction.
Once you hit “Approve”, the transaction should go through almost instantly.
What It Cost Me
Let’s recap! Here are the fees I paid to get the token I wanted ($GOG) on I-zkEVM using the native bridge:
- USD 7.50 to purchase and withdraw $IMX on Coinbase
- USD 23.18 to bridge $IMX from Ethereum to I-zkEVM
- USD 0.004 to swap $IMX for $GOG on I-zkEVM
That’s a total of USD 30.68!
Although your trading fees will vary based on how much crypto you buy in Step 1, your gas fees to deposit your tokens in Step 2 won’t.
This option is cost-prohibitive for small amounts, but it might be cheaper for larger deposits compared to other options that charge percentage-based service fees (foreshadowing!).
Purchase $IMX Directly On I-zkEVM
Your second option is a lot simpler compared to the first one!
The Immutable Toolkit lets you purchase $IMX directly on I-zkEVM using a credit card or Google Pay with Transak.
Based on my research, Transak is billed as one of the leading providers to on-ramp your cash into the crypto market. Here’s a link to Trustpilot if you’d like to research the service a little more before using it.
Step 1: Using Transak To Purchase $IMX
Instead of selecting the “Bridge” option in the Immutable Toolkit, you can select “Buy Coins” to purchase $IMX directly to your Passport account or wallet.
You can then swap your $IMX for any other token as we did in option 1 on Step 3.
If you decide to use another wallet, you may need to add the I-zkEVM network before you move on. I cover this in the next section, so feel free to skip ahead to Step 1 for instructions on how to do this.
When you connect your Passport Account to Transak, you’ll land on the following screen that asks you to enter the amount of $IMX you want to purchase.
Transak will ask you to complete a simple KYC process the first time you use it.
In my case, it only asked for basic personal information, like my address and phone number. It didn’t ask me for a photo ID like most CEX do.
…And that’s all there is to it!
What It Cost Me
The only problem with this method is that most credit card companies don’t allow crypto purchases.
Mine was no different. I wasn’t able to complete the transaction, even using Google Pay.
For our purposes, we’ll assume the fee is as advertised in the screenshot above. That works out to 5.24% of any amount you purchase.
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Do you know a cheaper way to get your tokens to I-zkEVM? Please share by leaving a response!
Bridging From IMX to Immutable zkEVM
The third option only applies to you if you already have some tokens on IMX — Immutable’s original blockchain.
If that’s the case, you can move your tokens using a third-party bridge called Immutableswap.io.
A word of warning first.
Using a third-party bridge always carries some form of risk. Make sure you do your research before you use one by asking community members on Discord and Reddit, and using test amounts the first time.
Step 1: Add The Immutable zkEVM Network To Your Wallet
To use the bridge, you’ll have to connect the wallet you used to create your Immutable X Link account, and you’ll want to add the I-zkEVM network to your wallet manually.
Check out this article from Immutable’s support forum for help with this on Metamask.
Step 2: Bridge Your Tokens With Immutableswap.io
After you click “Connect” and select your wallet, you should see the familiar IMX window appear.
Clicking on “Connect” in this pop-up will send a request to your Metamask Wallet to approve the connection.
Once you approve it, your wallet should connect to the swap, and you’ll be able to see your token balances on IMX.
From there, click on “BRIDGE: Immutable X to zkEVM”. That will take you to the transaction screen where you can choose which tokens and how many to bridge over.
Once you click on “Bridge” you’ll be taken to your Metamask wallet to approve the transaction (for free), after which the transfer will begin.
In my case, the bridge transaction took less than a minute, and I was quite pleased with how easy it was to use.
Step 3: Move Your Tokens To Your Passport Wallet
This step isn’t necessary if you don’t care about using Passport, but I want to cover it because it’s a little tricky to navigate.
First, Ethereum isn’t a native token to I-zkEVM, so you’ll have to import the token manually to see it in your wallet.
The token address on I-zkEVM isn’t advertised anywhere, but I was able to find it using the block explorer:
ETH Token Contract: 0x52A6c53869Ce09a731CD772f245b97A4401d3348
Here’s a link to a pretty comprehensive article from CoinGecko on how to add tokens manually to Metamask if you’re not sure how to.
Once that’s done, you’ll need to manually send the tokens from your wallet to your Passport address. You can find the address on the “Balance” tab of your Passport account.
Copy the address and head to your wallet. Select the I-zkEVM network. Select the token you wish to send and follow the prompts to complete the transaction.
The transfer shouldn’t take long to complete, and you can check the transaction’s status using the block explorer if ever it takes more than a few minutes.
Once the transaction is validated, you should see your tokens in your Passport account.
What It Cost Me
The fee to use Immutableswap.io was roughly 4.4%, or USD 1.54, and the IMX gas fee cost me less than a penny.
The alternative to using the bridge is to withdraw your tokens from IMX to your wallet and deposit them using the Immutable Bridge we covered earlier.
That means paying Ethereum gas fees twice, or approximately $40 at the best of times, making it too expensive to move small amounts.
Immutableswap.io is an interesting alternative if you already have a balance on IMX and you’re ok with the risks involved.
Conclusion: Which is Cheapest?
Let’s start by comparing the three options:
- Bridge From Ethereum — 1.4% Coinbase trading fee + USD 26.85 in gas fees
- Purchase $IMX Directly on I-zkEVM — 5.24% trading fees + less than USD 0.01 in gas fees to swap
- Bridge from IMX to Immutable zkEVM — 4.4% trading fees + less than USD 0.01 in gas fees to swap
In the end, the cheapest way to deposit any token to I-zkEVM depends on your situation.
Bridging tokens you already hold on IMX to I-zkEVM is generally the cheapest option, provided you’re comfortable with using a third-party bridge.
Otherwise, purchasing $IMX with fiat using the Transak service is a viable — albeit more expensive — alternative, provided your credit card company or bank allows you to do so.
If neither of these options appeals to you, your last one is to deposit your tokens using the native I-zkEVM bridge in the Immutable Toolkit.
This last option might seem like the most expensive, but that won’t always be the case.
Gas fees vary based on a few factors, but not the amount of tokens you send. That means there’s a breakeven point where you would pay the same in service fees using the other two options.
In my case, that amounts to USD 512 using Transax or USD 610 using Immutableswap.io.
If you’re transacting in large amounts, make sure to do the math before committing to any scenario if fees are an issue.
No matter how you dice it, there’s no truly cheap way to onboard your tokens to Immutable zkEVM.
That’s quite disappointing for a blockchain that’s advertised as low-cost and a driver for mass adoption.
Hopefully, the partnership with Polygon will bring about a cheaper way, but until then, expect to pay sizeable fees to play your favorite Immutable games that decide to migrate to I-zkEVM.
