In a significant expansion of cross-chain interoperability, MultiversX has officially enabled Bitcoin and Ethereum transfers on its network through the MultiversX Bridge, allowing users to move the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization at near-instant speeds and at a cost of roughly $0.001 per transaction.
TL;DR
- MultiversX Bridge now supports BTC and ETH transfers from the Ethereum network
- Wrapped versions of both assets (wBTC and wETH) are live as ESDT tokens on MultiversX mainnet
- Transfer costs approximately $0.001 per transaction with average bridge time of 10-15 minutes
- Bitcoin trades at $25,902 and Ethereum at $1,742 as cross-chain expansion continues
- The integration opens BTC and ETH liquidity for MultiversX DeFi protocols and ecosystem applications
How the Bridge Works
The MultiversX Bridge, accessible at bridge.multiversx.com, allows users to transfer BTC and ETH from the Ethereum network to the MultiversX blockchain. The process involves connecting a source wallet via MetaMask, specifying a destination wallet on MultiversX, and confirming the asset transfer. Bridge transfers between Ethereum and MultiversX typically complete within 10 to 15 minutes, according to the project’s documentation.
Once transferred, the assets exist as wrapped ESDT tokens on the MultiversX Network. Bitcoin becomes WrappedBTC with the ticker wBTC and the ESDT identifier WBTC-5349b3, while Ethereum becomes WrappedETH with the ticker wETH and the identifier WETH-b4ca29. Both wrapped tokens carry the “w” prefix to reflect their status as bridged assets on the MultiversX Network.
The xPortal wallet, MultiversX’s native application, now displays both native and ESDT versions of BTC and ETH, differentiated through token logos and names. The native versions do not operate on the MultiversX Network, while the ESDT versions brought over through the bridge benefit from the network’s high-speed transaction processing and ecosystem opportunities.
Technical Architecture and Performance
The MultiversX Network, formerly known as Elrond, employs a sharded architecture designed to achieve high throughput and low latency for blockchain transactions. The integration of Bitcoin and Ethereum through the bridge leverages this architecture, enabling transfers at a fraction of the cost users would experience on the original chains.
At approximately $0.001 per transaction, the cost savings are substantial compared to Ethereum’s gas fees, which have historically ranged from a few dollars during low-activity periods to tens or even hundreds of dollars during network congestion. The bridge effectively gives Bitcoin and Ethereum holders access to MultiversX’s performance characteristics while maintaining custody through the bridging mechanism.
DeFi Integration Opportunities
The arrival of BTC and ETH liquidity on MultiversX opens significant opportunities for the network’s growing DeFi ecosystem. DeFi protocols and other ecosystem applications can now integrate the wrapped assets, creating new opportunities for lending, borrowing, yield farming, and trading using the two most established cryptocurrencies.
MultiversX co-founder and CIO Lucian Mincu described the integration as “an important step forward” that is expected to “significantly increase ecosystem liquidity, exposure and accessibility.” The project anticipates that wBTC and wETH will be rapidly integrated into multiple protocols, serving as prerequisites for new creative financial products within the MultiversX ecosystem.
HypergrowthX Strategy and Future Plans
The Bitcoin and Ethereum bridge launch is part of MultiversX’s broader HypergrowthX initiative, which the project describes as a comprehensive battle plan for expansion across multiple fronts. The strategy encompasses user and developer onboarding, protocol upgrades, new product launches, and continued interoperability expansion with additional blockchains and assets.
The bridge with Ethereum represents the first major cross-chain integration under this strategy, with additional chain integrations and partnerships with major infrastructure providers reportedly in development. The free flow of BTC and ETH to MultiversX positions the network as a viable destination for users seeking high-performance DeFi applications with access to the deepest liquidity pools in the cryptocurrency market.
Why This Matters
Cross-chain interoperability remains one of the most critical challenges in the blockchain space, and the ability to seamlessly move Bitcoin and Ethereum across networks at minimal cost represents meaningful progress. With Bitcoin at $25,902 and Ethereum at $1,742, the combined market capitalization of these two assets exceeds $710 billion. Enabling even a small fraction of this liquidity to flow into emerging ecosystems like MultiversX could catalyze significant growth in decentralized finance applications. As the blockchain industry continues to move toward a multi-chain future, bridges that offer speed, low costs, and security will play an increasingly central role in determining which networks capture user activity and developer attention.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk, and bridge transactions involve smart contract risks. Always conduct your own research before using cross-chain protocols or making investment decisions.
0.001 per tx is legit cheap. wonder how the 10-15 min wait holds up under actual volume tho
10-15 min bridge time with that fee is decent. most L1 bridges take longer and charge 50x more. but yeah lets see what happens when volume spikes
wrapping BTC onto a chain with no lending market or DEX depth is technically impressive but practically useless. EGLD DeFi TVL needs to grow 10x before this matters
multiversx has been quietly building real infra while everyone argues about memecoins. wrapped BTC and ETH as ESDT tokens is a solid move for their DeFi
MultiversX transaction speeds are genuinely fast but the liquidity depth on their DeFi protocols is still questionable. Wrapped assets need actual volume to matter.
10-15 minutes at $0.001 is solid on paper. but EGLD DeFi TVL is thin. wrapped assets need deep liquidity pools to matter
0.001 per tx and 10 to 15 min bridge time looks good but egld defi tvl stays thin
10-15 min is competitive with Ethereum finality honestly. the TVL problem is circular though, no liquidity means no users means no liquidity
Sofia M. the circular TVL problem is real. saw the same thing with cardano bridges last year. tech ships, nobody uses it, team moves on to next feature
Milena K. the circular TVL problem killed Cardano bridges too. tech ships, nobody uses it, team pivots to the next shiny feature announcement
EGLD ecosystem keeps shipping real products while the token price says otherwise. Classic builder-coin divergence.
token price diverging from actual shipping is the most frustrating thing about EGLD. real products, zero price action
EGLD shipping bridges, DEXs, real products and the token is down 90% from ATH. the market genuinely does not care about tech anymore
egld token down 90 percent from ath even while shipping actual bridges and dexes
E. Novak EGLD down 90% from ATH while shipping real bridges and DEXes. the market genuinely does not price tech, it prices narratives and liquidity
chainlinker_ EGLD is down 90% from ATH but the team keeps shipping bridges and DEXes. at some point you have to ask if the market is wrong or if shipping without revenue is just slow death
$0.001 per bridge transaction is impressive tech. but until MultiversX gets a major DeFi protocol to deploy natively, wrapped BTC and ETH are just sitting there unused
bridge_toll_ exactly. the bridge tech works but egld defi tvl is basically nothing. wrapping BTC onto a chain with no lending market or DEX depth is pointless
0.001 fee is impressive until you check how little major defi is actually on multiversx
bridge_toll_ the bridge works fine technically. problem is MultiversX has $40M TVL across all DeFi. wrapped BTC on a chain with no Aave or Curve is stranded liquidity
wrapping BTC onto a chain with less liquidity than a Uniswap v2 pool from 2020 makes no sense. the bridge fee is irrelevant when your slippage is 8%
10-15 min bridge time is competitive but the real bottleneck is MultiversX DEX liquidity. wrapping assets onto a chain with shallow pools is dead on arrival
BTC at 25,902 and ETH at 1,742 when this bridge launched. different market entirely from today. wondering if the bridge volume ever picked up
0.001 per transfer sounds great until you realize the wrapped versions carry counterparty risk. wBTC on MultiversX is only as good as the custodian holding the actual BTC
10-15 minute bridge time is competitive but Iconi and Wormhole already do this. the real question is whether MultiversX DeFi protocols can actually attract BTC liquidity or if it sits unused