The across bridge is an intent-based crosschain transfer system: a relayer delivers the requested asset on the destination chain before the origin-chain deposit reaches final settlement. It moves the economic result across supported networks, rather than making a user wait for a canonical bridge’s full message and finality path.
How Across Bridge completes a transfer in seconds
Across starts with a quote, not a generic deposit. The quote fixes the origin token, destination token, amount, recipient, route, deadlines, and the total output after fees. Once the depositor submits the origin-chain transaction, competing relayers can see the intent and fill it from their own destination-chain inventory. The recipient receives the output when a relayer fills; the protocol settles the relayer later against the origin deposit.
- The swap or bridge request specifies exact input or exact output and the receiving address.
- The quote accounts for gas, relayer compensation, liquidity conditions, and any crosschain conversion.
- A relayer supplies the destination asset and records the fill onchain.
- The deposit is verified through Across’s UMA-based optimistic settlement process.
- The winning relayer is repaid after the settlement period; disputed claims can be challenged.
Across Bridge fees compared with the long way
The visible bridge fee is only one cost. The long route commonly means a canonical bridge deposit, a finality wait, destination gas, a separate swap, another approval, and price exposure while capital is unavailable. Across combines the crosschain movement and, where quoted, the conversion into one requested outcome. The practical saving is fewer transactions and less idle time, not an assertion that every route has the lowest nominal fee.
| Cost or delay | Intent-based Across route | Typical staged route |
|---|---|---|
| Destination liquidity | Relayer inventory fills first | Wait for bridged asset to arrive |
| Transactions | Approval if needed, then deposit | Bridge, claim or wait, then swap |
| Execution risk | Quoted output and deadline | Separate bridge and swap price conditions |
| Capital downtime | Near-immediate fill when available | Bound to message finality and claim flow |
What Across Bridge is not
Across is not a canonical bridge that transports a chain’s native representation through its own message path. It is a crosschain intents protocol whose relayers front destination liquidity, while an optimistic verification system determines reimbursement. That distinction explains both the speed and the residual dependency on route liquidity, quote expiry, and the protocol’s settlement assumptions.
What to confirm before submitting an Across Bridge quote
- Confirm the destination chain, token contract, and recipient address.
- Confirm the minimum received amount and quote expiry.
- Confirm approval requirements and origin-chain gas.
- Confirm whether the route includes a token swap.
- Confirm that the destination amount is sufficient for the next transaction.
For routine transfers, the useful comparison is therefore all-in execution: destination amount received, number of signatures, destination readiness, and time spent exposed between actions. A lower bridge fee can still cost more when it leaves funds waiting for a second transaction.