There are multiple methods to convert a cryptocurrency token on the BSC network (Binance Smart Chain), which is usually a BEP20 type token, into an ERC20 type token on the Ethereum network, and the other way around. These methods would either be a centralized solution where trust is required or conducted in a decentralized way in a trustless manner.
How to convert BEP20 tokens to ERC20 tokens
There are multiple ways that someone can convert/swap their BEP20 type token to an ERC20 one, or vice-versa, and these cross-chain bridging methods either handle it in a centralized way or utilize smart contracts. Generally speaking, it doesn’t matter which wallet you use, but most people either use Trust wallet or Metamask, to make use of their convenient wallet connecting features with platforms that utilize smart contracts. However you should keep in mind the downsides that accompanies this type of services: they typically have a high hidden costs and there is a risk that your funds will be stolen or lost.
Decentralized options
1. WhalesHeaven: A decentralized exchange (DEX) platform that’s built as an OTC, with the platform itself acting as an non-custodial validator. A user is able to sell USDC, for example, on the BSC network as a BEP20 type token for the same token but as an ERC20. What’s interesting about WH is that one of its current methods to swap your tokens for another is its utilization of multi-signature wallets, specifically Threshold Signature multisig wallets, to conduct trades between users. Users can trade their tokens from one blockchain for another token on a different blockchain, and all what they have to pay for is the transaction fees for the specific token they are sending out, and the fees would be at their lowest because of the technology being used.
2. AnySwap: This is a pretty simple and straightforward cryptocurrency bridging platform, where you’d simply connect your wallet, select the token you’d like to swap, the network it’s on, then select on which network you’d like to receive them on, and in this case it would be from BSC to Ethereum, swapping your BEP20 token to an ERC20, or vice-versa. One thing to consider here is to see the fee that’ll be taken when the swap happens, as well as if there’s even enough liquidity for the pair you want to utilize.
3. Infinity Wallet: If you’d like to use a cryptocurrency wallet that features a bridging service, then this is one that’ll do just that! After downloading, installing, and setting up your wallet, you’d need to see if the wallet has the token that you’d like to swap, on the network that you currently have them on, and on the network, you want to swap them too. If they’re available, then all you have to do is to deposit the tokens you have on there, go to the swap section in the wallet, select the crypto token you have is the one you’d like to swap, then select the same token but on the network, you’d like to have it on, add the desired amount and then swap your BEP20 token to an ERC20 one, or vice-versa.
Centralized options
Binance is one of the most popular centralized exchange (CEX) platforms out there, where you can swap your BEP20 tokens to an ERC20 pretty easily. First, you’d deposit your BEP20 token into your Binance wallet, then withdraw it back out as an ERC20 type token.
There are two things to consider here when using this centralized option as your swap/bridge solution. The first being is that you need to make sure and check that Binance would be able to accept the token that you want to deposit and see if it can be deposited as a BEP20 token, and to see if you’d be able to withdraw the same token as an ERC20 type. The second thing to take note of is that Binance will take a withdrawal fee, one that might be more or less expensive than the network fee.
Aside from Binance, you can consider other possible popular centralized exchange platforms like Bitrue and KuCoin, where the deposit and withdrawal process is similar to that who use Binance, but not exactly, so you’d need to research these platforms and possibly save more on withdrawal fees.
So, which is the best method to convert your BEP20 crypto to an ERC20 one? It depends on what you’d weigh of value you have for simplicity, convenience, security, who’d have custody of your tokens, and how expensive the fees are. But, we can imagine that most people would prefer to pay as low a fee as possible and obtain near the exact amount they swapped for in a bridging service.
Why convert a token from a BEP20 to ERC20 one, or ERC20 to BEP20?
There are multiple reasons why someone would want to swap their tokens and have them on another blockchain network. The first and most obvious reason would be the different fees that a user would like to pay. It’s no secret that fees on the Ethereum network are anywhere from large to not even possible for some people to pay, and as such, they’d look into other popular networks with much lower fees, where they’d have their token on it, like USDC for example, and move their funds their so that they can enjoy transacting with their desired token as they pay much lower transaction fees. In regards to the BSC network and Ethereum, BSC has much lower transaction fees, at least for the moment, than Ethereum’s.
Another reason that someone would want to have a token swapped to a different network is that there might be an IDO (Initial DEX Offering) on one of these networks, and so if the person wants to participate in that sale that’s on a network he or she is not on, then they’d want to convert their appropriate token to that other network, using one bridge or another, where most likely they’d have their funds on a Metamask wallet (for better and convenient experiences, since the wallet would usually use the same address on different blockchain networks), and participate in the sale of the IDO.
A third possible reason is that there might be some Decentralized Application (dApp) that’s on one chain but on the other, and people would like to transfer their tokens to that network so they’d be able to interact with that dApp, be it for some kind of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) service, like lending, borrowing, yield farming or staking, or perhaps to participate in an NFT market-place and purchase some NFTs.
Whatever the reason might be, there are multiple cryptocurrency bridging services out there, with their own different methods of converting your BEP20 to ERC20 or the other way around, and more will come in the future with bigger liquidity and lower fees.
Also read: Which Tokenization Standard Is Better? ERC20 Vs TRC20
