The Bolivar bridge by BlockNG is currently the only way to move funds in and out of the smartBCH network.
The bridge was created by the BlockNG and MistSwap team as a stopgap measure after CoinFlex shut down due to its liquidity crisis.
It supports moving a number of assets such as BCH, BTC, USDT, BUSD, BNB, ETH, and DAI, between the smartBCH and BNB Smart Chain (BSC) networks.
In this post, I will be showing you how to move funds in and out of the smartBCH network using the Bolivar bridge.
For convenience, I will be using BCH in this guide, but the process is the same for any of the other supported assets.
How to move BCH in and out of smartBCH using the Bolivar bridge
Below, I’ll be walking you through how to move BCH in and out of smartBCH using the Bolivar Bridge in two parts.
Let’s dive in…
1. How to transfer BCH from BSC to smartBCH
Here’s what you need for this transfer:
- Make sure that you have BCH on the BSC network in your wallet. You can withdraw BCH as a BEP20 token from any exchange like Binance or KuCoin or transfer it from your existing BSC wallet.
- Your wallet is connected to the BSC network and you have some BNB to pay for the gas fee.
- Also, connect your wallet to the smartBCH network to be able to interact with BlockNG and for easy switching when the transfer is done.
- Relax and follow the onscreen prompts carefully. It’s easier than it seems at first.
With that out of the way, go to the Bolivar Bridge page on BlockNG as shown below.
In the From field, select Binance Smart Chain. smartBCH will be selected automatically for the To field.
Now, under Assets, select bcBCH from the drop-down list (bcBCH is Binance pegged BCH on BSC). You should see your total bcBCH balance as shown in the above screenshot.
Then enter the amount of the token you want to swap under the Amount to Swap field. I’m using 0.1 BCH in my test transaction here.
If you’re new to smartBCH you can tick the Need Gas box to use 0.01 BNB to get 0.01 BCH which you’ll need to pay for gas fees on the network.
But if you’re an existing smartBCH user with some BCH already in your wallet, you don’t need to check that box.
Once done with all the above, click the Swap button to proceed.
If this is your first time interacting with the bridge, your wallet will prompt you to grant permission for it to access your BCH as shown below.
Click the Confirm button and wait for the transaction to be confirmed.
Once confirmed, your wallet will prompt you again to approve a deposit transaction for the 0.01 BCH for gas (if you ticked the Need Gas box earlier.
Click the Confirm button and wait for blockchain confirmation.
Once confirmed, you’ll be shown the transaction hash and asked to switch to the smartBCH network as shown below.
Click the Switch to smartBCH Network button to proceed.
Your wallet will prompt you to confirm the switch transaction as shown below.
Click the Switch Network button and wait for for the wallet to switch to smartBCH.
The next screen will allow you to claim the BCH tokens into your smartBCH wallet.
Click the CLAIM button, and your wallet will prompt you to confirm the claim transaction.
Click the Confirm button and wait for the blockchain confirmation.
That’s all.
Your smartBCH wallet will be credited with the exact BCH amount and you can start exploring DeFi on smartBCH immediately.
Manual claims
If for some reason, you did not receive your BCH after the claim transaction or you closed the page before claiming, don’t panic.
You can return to the bridge and claim the transaction manually using the previous swap transaction hash ID.
Find and copy the hash ID from the BSCScan block explorer. It should be the last transaction you see when you search your wallet on BSCScan.
On the bridge homepage, scroll down and tick the Manual Claim of Previous Transaction box as shown below.
Then paste the transaction hash ID into the field shown and click the CLAIM button.
Your wallet will prompt you to confirm the claim transaction as usual. Approve the transaction and wait for the network confirmation.
The BCH will be credited into your wallet accordingly.
2. How to transfer BCH from smartBCH to BSC
What you need for this transfer:
- bcBCH on smartBCH in your wallet. You can convert your BCH to bcBCH on MistSwap or TangoSwap.
- A small amount of BNB on BSC in your wallet to pay for gas fees.
- Your wallet is also configured for the BSC network.
Now go to the Bolivar Bridge, and connect your wallet.
Select bcBCH from the drop-down list under Assets and enter the amount of the token you want to swap.
Once done, click the SWAP button to continue.
If this is your first interaction with the bridge, your wallet will prompt you to grant permission for the contract to access your bcBCH.
Click the confirm button to approve the transaction. Then wait patiently for the blockchain confirmation.
Once the approval transaction is confirmed, your wallet will automatically generate another prompt to confirm the swap.
Once done, wait for the blockchain confirmation in a few seconds.
On the next screen, you’ll see your transaction hash and be asked to switch the network to BSC.
Just click the Switch to BSC Network button and you’ll be prompted to confirm the network change.
Once you switch network to BSC, the CLAIM button will appear as shown below.
Click CLAIM and your wallet will prompt you to confirm the transaction.
Click the Confirm button and your BCH will be credited into your BSC wallet accordingly.
That’s all.
You can now trade your BCH on BSC on any of these BSC DEXes if you want.
Better still, you can send it to Binance, KuCoin, or any other exchange that accepts BCH BEP20 tokens, and then withdraw it from there to your Bitcoin Cash main chain wallet.
Manual claims
You can also use the manual claim feature here if you closed the page prematurely.
First, find and copy the hash ID from the Sonar block explorer on smartBCH. It should be the last transaction you see when you search your wallet on Sonar.
Now, return to the bridge and tick the Manual Claim of Previous Transaction box as shown below.
Paste the transaction hash ID you copied from Sonar into the field shown and click the CLAIM button.
Your wallet will prompt you to confirm the claim transaction as usual. Approve it and wait for the network confirmation.
The BCH will be credited into your wallet accordingly.
Is the Bolivar Bridge secure?
The Bolivar bridge is a fork of the Callisto Network’s cross-chain bridge contract and it supposedly inherited its security.
The contract is said to have gone through multiple internal audits, but there’s been no external audit of the bridge as of today (August 1, 2022).
Furthermore, the bridge funds are locked in a smart contract that is controlled by multiple validators and requires a two-thirds majority signature to move the funds on it.
The current validators include only BlockNG, MistSwap, and an anonymous neutral BCH institution whose identity has been kept secret for security reasons.
But, it’s said that other institutions with at least 2000 BCH holdings can join and become a validator to increase the bridge’s security.
That’s about how secure it is.
- As long as at least 2/3 of the validators do not collude to steal the funds on the bridge it’s secure.
- A hacker will need to gain access to the keys of at least 2 of the validators to steal the funds on the bridge.
- If a hacker cannot create a workaround to bypass the 2/3 requirement, then it’s also secure.
- And if the Callisto bridge does not have a vulnerability, then the Bolivar bridge is also relatively secure.
What are the risks of using the Bolivar bridge?
- By using the Bolivar bridge, you’re trusting the BlockNG and MistSwap teams to not act maliciously.
- There’s the (albeit remote) possibility of the bridge being hacked or exploited by malicious users. If that should happen, you may lose your funds on smartBCH, as there wouldn’t be exit liquidity for you to leave the network.
- The future of smartBCH is still in doubt due to the current crisis, and if the chain fails, you may lose any funds you have on it.
- The value of the BCH on smartBCH (sBCH) and the BCH on BSC (bcBCH) can vary as people move funds in and out of the network. So, you may not always get a 1:1 conversion rate.
- The liquidity on the bridge is far lower than what’s on smartBCH. The more people leave smartBCH, the less liquidity there’ll be for others to exit.
Conclusion
Since the CoinFlex bridge was closed, the Bolivar Bridge by BlockNG has been the primary way to move funds in and out of smartBCH.
So far, the bridge has been working perfectly, is stable, and liquidity is building up nicely.
Furthermore, the BlockNG team seem very innovative, competent and committed to both their project and the smartBCH network.
And that’s encouraging.
However, understand that there’s still a huge shadow of uncertainty around smartBCH and you may want to only play with an amount you’re comfortable with.