Bridging is what you do when you own the right asset on the wrong network — USDC sitting on Polygon when the vault or the person you want to pay is on Base. It is not a way to change what you hold.
Because CCTP burns and mints native USDC rather than issuing a wrapped claim, what lands on the destination is the real thing, not a bridge IOU. That removes the failure mode that has caused most bridge losses historically.
Bridge a balance
- 1
Open Bridge.
- 2
Pick the source chain and the destination chain.
- 3
Enter the amount and review the quote.
The quote includes gas on both sides and a small service fee, under 1%, shown up front.
- 4
Confirm you can pay gas on the destination chain.
Arriving with USDC and no native token to transact with is a common and avoidable irritation.
- 5
Sign the burn on your device.
- 6
Watch the transfer advance in Activity through attestation to mint.
It moves through Circle's attestation service; timing depends on the chains involved rather than on us.
Good to know
- Bridging is USDC-only, because it uses CCTP. Other assets are not bridged in the app.
- If a transfer is attested but not yet minted, it is pending rather than lost. The funds are recoverable by completing the mint, and the app tracks that state explicitly instead of showing a stalled balance.
Frequently asked
No. It moves the same asset between networks at 1:1, with no price, no order book and no counterparty. Nothing is exchanged for anything else.
The burn and the mint are separate steps, so a transfer can sit attested-but-unminted. It is tracked as pending and completes when the mint goes through; the value is not lost in between.
The chains Circle's CCTP supports that SpendTheBits also supports. The Bridge screen only offers routes that actually exist.
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