How to Transfer Assets from One Chain to Another in Ledger Live

Moving assets across different blockchains is a fundamental part of tapping into various market opportunities in web3. Swapping or bridging parts of your portfolio means you’re staying ahead, tapping into the pulse of financial freedom and the overall web3 experience. You’d want to know your private keys are in trusted hands when securely transferring between pairs of crypto assets. 

Ledger Live makes this process straightforward, secure, and accessible. 

Whether you’re looking to swap from Ethereum (ETH) to Solana (SOL) or explore other blockchain ecosystems, Ledger has a secure way to do it. The Ledger Live app integrates with services like THORChain, allowing you to swap assets without leaving the safety of the Ledger ecosystem. 

This makes it so that you strategically manage your assets across the blockchain with the confidence that your assets remain safe and secure.

But before you embark on this journey, understanding the differences between swapping and bridging, and how Ledger Live facilitates these, is crucial.

Why Swap Crypto?

Swapping allows you to pivot your investment without touching fiat, whether you’re looking to diversify your portfolio, react quickly to market movements, or protect your investment from volatility. 

With swaps, you control the flexibility, speed, and strategic growth of your crypto portfolio. All this, without needing to convert back to traditional currency and buying a separate cryptocurrency all over again—a process that is still tedious in a lot of countries and regions worldwide.

Bridging vs Swapping

Bridging assets between blockchains involves transferring them to another blockchain network, where tokens are locked on the original chain and minted on the destination one. This method is useful if you manage assets across different blockchain ecosystems, like moving USDC from Ethereum to Polygon for lower fees or engaging with different DeFi protocols.

Swapping, on the other hand, is the direct exchange of one cryptocurrency for another within the same blockchain or through a decentralized exchange protocol. It’s quicker and simpler than bridging but is constrained by the available trading pairs and liquidity pools.

Swapping is ideal for trading or when you need another token for immediate use without the need to cross to a different blockchain.

Swapping Crypto with Ledger Live – A Secure Gateway

Swapping crypto, or exchanging one cryptocurrency for another, is a fundamental action in web3, and Ledger Live is a secure, user-friendly gateway to do just that.

Want to quickly swap BTC for XRP? Ledger Live makes it fast and easy.

How Ledger Facilitates Swaps

Your Ledger hardware wallet is the fortress for your digital assets and ensures your crypto remains in your control, and safe from online threats. Paired with the Ledger Live app, your hardware wallet allows for swapping, buying, selling, and growing your assets in a secure environment.

The app connects you with third-party providers, each of whom has undergone security audits before being integrated into the Ledger Live ecosystem. Moreover, the apps integrated within Ledger Live also integrate Clear Signing functions, making each transaction human-readable. This peace of mind of knowing exactly what you are signing is strengthened with Ledger’s larger display and touchscreen devices—Ledger Flex and Ledger Stax.

This makes swapping your assets a seamless and highly secure experience.

The Ledger Advantage

Ledger Live isn’t just for swapping; it’s your go-to place to access services for buying, selling, and even staking your crypto, all from one app. With Ledger Live, your private keys stay safe inside your hardware wallet when you swap assets, making security a priority. The process is simple: a few clicks and you’re swapping through providers like Changelly or THORChain.

You have the freedom to choose from different providers, so you’re always in control.

Supported Crypto

The Ledger Live app supports swaps across major cryptocurrencies/chains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and various stablecoins like USDT, alongside numerous ERC20 tokens.

The Problems With Cross-Chain Swaps Today

Cross-chain swaps involve moving assets from one blockchain to another (bridging) and exchanging them for different assets—a process that presents several hurdles. Let’s say you’d like to bridge USDC on Ethereum with PEPE on Polygon—this combines both the transfer across chains and the asset swap.

Today’s primary issues to cross-chain swaps include vulnerability to hacks, where malicious actors might exploit the bridge or the swap mechanism; man-in-the-middle attacks where transactions can be intercepted or altered; and the potential for screen manipulation.

Additionally, users face high transaction fees, especially during network congestion, and often slower transfer times due to the complexity of locking assets on one chain and minting or unlocking them on another. The reliance on intermediaries or bridge protocols for cross-chain functionality introduces centralization risks, potentially undermining the decentralized ethos of blockchain technology.

Moreover, the fragmented liquidity across different blockchains can result in less favorable exchange rates or insufficient liquidity for certain asset pairs, and navigating these multi-network interactions often involves dealing with intricate DeFi protocols, which can introduce smart contract vulnerabilities.

Your Ledger device’s airtight security model, including a secure screen and Secure Ledger OS, along with rigorous testing, protects against remote and physical threats. And so, transferring assets across chains via Ledger Live and third-party services is both straightforward and safe, ensuring your assets are always secure.

Cross-chain Swaps on Ledger Live — Before You Start

Update Ledger Live: Make sure Ledger Live is updated to the latest version.

Firmware: Ensure your Ledger device is running the most recent firmware.

Accounts: You will need an account for the crypto you want to swap → Learn more

Bridge Service: You’ll need to use a bridging service, as Ledger Live doesn’t natively support cross-chain transfers. Error Messages: It’s possible to get an error message when attempting to swap through the Ledger Live app. This can happen when your VPN is on, so please make sure to turn it off before attempting to swap.

How to Transfer Assets Across Chains On Ledger Live

Step 1: Connect Your Ledger Device

Open Ledger Live on your devices, then unlock and connect your Ledger hardware wallet.

Step 2: Select the Networks and Tokens

Before initiating the transfer, verify the networks you’re working with. For example, if you want to move Ethereum (ETH) to Solana (SOL), make sure you’ve added both accounts (Ethereum and Solana) to Ledger Live.

Step 3: Choose the Right Swap Service

Navigate to Ledger Live’s Swap section and you’ll see a list of swap providers compatible with the pair of crypto you’ve selected to swap between.

Select one of our third-party providers like THORChain, for instance, to move assets between chains while keeping them secure on your Ledger device.

THORChain on Ledger Live

Integrating THORChain into Ledger Live allows users to engage with THORChain’s cross-chain liquidity protocol directly from their secure hardware wallet. Using THORChain via Ledger Live for asset swaps ensures a non-custodial experience because your private keys never leave the secure environment of your Ledger device. This means you retain complete control over your assets, as no third-party ever has custody of your funds during the swap process.

Here’s how to navigate and utilize THORChain via Ledger Live:

To start, ensure your Ledger device is running the latest firmware and Ledger Live is up to date. Within Ledger Live, go to the “My Ledger” section to install the Exchange app to run THORChain.

This app is essential for interacting with THORChain’s network, enabling secure transaction signing on your Ledger device.

Once the app is installed, navigate to the “Swap” tab in Ledger Live.

Here, you’ll find THORChain integrated as a swap provider, thanks to partnerships with services like SwapKit, which simplifies the process of cross-chain asset exchanges. If you wish to swap assets, select THORChain from the list of providers. The supported swap providers for your particular assets automatically show up on this screen.

You’ll be prompted to choose the source and destination chains for your assets. For instance, you might want to swap Bitcoin on the Bitcoin blockchain for Ethereum on the Ethereum network.

With THORChain in Ledger Live, every transaction is signed directly on your Ledger hardware wallet, preventing any intermediary from accessing or holding your cryptocurrencies. The swap occurs peer-to-peer through THORChain’s decentralized liquidity pools, maintaining your autonomy and reducing the risk associated with centralized exchanges.

After selecting your assets and chains, review the transaction details presented by Ledger Live, including the exchange rate, expected fees, and the amount you’ll receive after the swap. Confirm these details for accuracy. Your Ledger device will then display the transaction for final verification; confirm on the device by pressing both buttons simultaneously.

Post-confirmation, the transaction will be processed through THORChain’s network. The time for transaction completion can vary based on network congestion. Once completed, the swapped assets will reflect in your Ledger Live account associated with the destination blockchain. 

Why trust anything else in an increasingly complex digital landscape? Stay ahead of the crypto curve with Ledger’s latest touchscreen devices. 

Important Considerations:

Gas Fees: Remember that each blockchain charges transaction fees in its native currency (e.g., ETH for Ethereum, MATIC for Polygon).

Bridging Risks: Always double-check the legitimacy of the bridging service you’re using to avoid scams or incorrect transactions.

What Pairs Can You Swap Cross-Chain with Ledger

As of November 2024, Ledger Live supports swapping with several cryptocurrencies, including:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Tether (USDT)
• USD Coin (USDC)
• Ripple (XRP)
• Solana (SOL)
• Other ERC20 Tokens

Note: 

• The Ledger Live swap feature is unavailable in certain countries. 
• It can take some time to receive your crypto. This is usually due to network congestion.

Ledger Makes Swapping and Bridging Easy!

Whether swapping or bridging via Ledger Live, you’re strategically positioning your portfolio across diverse blockchain ecosystems with confidence and security. This experience is further fortified across the Ledger lineup owing to its battle-tested security model.

Ledger makes it so you can explore, adapt, and grow—your crypto, your way, all with the peace of mind only Ledger can provide. So why stop to think about the next blockchain, grab a Ledger, and get swapping with ease!