# how to bridge to hyperliquid, and when you can skip arbitrum

Most people do not need to bridge to Arbitrum first; check whether your exchange withdraws to Hyperliquid directly before you pay for a hop you do not need. Hyperliquid says many exchanges and bridges send to it directly, and that Arbitrum is the route for when yours does not. With a wallet connected, Arbitrum is also what the Deposit window takes USDC from: its chain list has no Ethereum, Base or Polygon.

## check this before you bridge anything

1. Go to the withdrawal page on the exchange that holds your funds. Check the network list for Hyperliquid.
2. If it is listed, withdraw directly to your Hyperliquid address. No bridge, no swap, no second gas token.
3. If it is not listed, Arbitrum is your fallback, and the rest of this page applies.

That is the whole optimisation: each hop you remove is one fewer chance to send to the wrong chain. Older guides, this site's included, open with "bridge to Arbitrum"; Hyperliquid now treats it as the fallback.

## if you do need the fallback route

Which chains the deposit takes depends on how you signed in. A wallet connection takes USDC via Arbitrum only. An email login takes USDC on Arbitrum, Base, Ethereum and Polygon, sent to a deposit address or QR code.

**With a wallet connected**, on desktop:

1. Get USDC on Arbitrum, and Arbitrum's gas token as well. You need it to send. Hyperliquid itself is gas-free once you are there.
2. Click Deposit on the Trade page. First Hyperliquid asks for a gas-free signature, "Establish Connection". It asks again in each new browser tab.
3. The window is titled "Deposit USDC from Arbitrum". Leave Asset on USDC and Deposit Chain on Arbitrum, enter the Amount, click Deposit, and confirm in your wallet. The window says a 0.2 USDC fee comes off what you deposit.
4. Wait. Hyperliquid times a legacy bridge deposit at less than 1 minute and gives no time for the other entries.

The Deposit Chain list reads Arbitrum, Arbitrum (Legacy Bridge), Arbitrum (Swap USDT for USDC) and HyperEVM. There is no address to send to.

![Hyperliquid's Deposit window opened from the Vaults page, USDC picked, with the Deposit Chain list open: Arbitrum, Arbitrum (Legacy Bridge), Arbitrum (Swap USDT for USDC) and HyperEVM. Our wallet and deposits masked.](https://apebrief.com/assets/media/hl-bridge.png)

**With an email login**: send USDC on Arbitrum, Base, Ethereum or Polygon to the address the window shows. If your exchange withdraws USDC to Base or Polygon, use that. Across runs this route.

For USDC, Hyperliquid names CCTP as the preferred route and calls the old Arbitrum bridge contract the legacy bridge, deprecated. The chain list still offers it as its own entry, and the plain Arbitrum entry does not say which mechanism it uses. If a tutorial hands you that contract address to interact with directly, it is describing last year's mechanism.

## two things to know before you send

**Below the floor.** When a wallet is connected, a deposit under 5 USDC is lost. When you use email login, anything under 5 USDC is not credited and goes back to your email wallet, while anything under 1 USDC is lost. So a test deposit has to be 5 USDC or more.

**Sending a token instead of collateral.** The deposit flow accepts BTC, ETH, SOL and several others directly, and they arrive as that asset. You still have to sell for the quote asset before it is usable margin. Nothing is lost, but your perp balance reads zero and it looks like the deposit failed.

If you are on the fallback route, use a bridge you have used before; nothing on this page recovers a wrong-chain send.

If you're setting up a new account, the link below is our referral link. A code can also go on through the referrals page.

> **code APEBRIEF.** Open Hyperliquid through https://go.apebrief.com/hyperliquid/bridge-001-end?src=md&asset=hyperliquid%2Fbridge&cta=after-resolution and paste the code where the signup shows a code field. Using this code takes 4% off your Hyperliquid fees for your first $25M of volume, which trading without a code does not. We get a commission from Hyperliquid, which helps support our work, at no extra cost to you.

## related questions

- **How do I get EVM tokens onto Hyperliquid?** Get to Arbitrum USDC, then use Deposit in the app. There is no any-ERC20-in button. Do not send the token at a Hyperliquid address and hope.
- **Where is deposit on Hyperliquid?** Balances panel, Deposit, usually USDC via Arbitrum. Read the chain the UI asks for. Mainnet ETH to a Hyperliquid address is how people lose a day.
- **Hyperliquid taker fee?** Base perp taker 0.045%, maker 0.015%, 14-day tiers. A referral is a fee cut on the first stretch of volume. Not a cut of the notional. This page does not send you to Axiom.

## how we know: every number on this page

- CEXs and bridges can send to Hyperliquid directly, which removes the Arbitrum hop entirely **direct** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/onboarding/how-to-start-trading), checked 2026-09-26
- Arbitrum is documented as the fallback, for when your exchange does not support Hyperliquid **common** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/onboarding/how-to-start-trading), checked 2026-09-26
- CCTP is the documented preferred route for USDC, and the Arbitrum bridge contract is labelled the legacy bridge and deprecated **CCTP** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/for-developers/api/usdc), checked 2026-09-26
- the onboarding page puts USDC on four chains, sent to a deposit address or QR code, under email login; for a connected wallet it lists USDC on Arbitrum, entered as an amount and confirmed in the wallet **Arbitrum/Ethereum/Base/Polygon** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/onboarding/how-to-start-trading), checked 2026-09-26
- you need the source chain's gas token to deposit, and Hyperliquid trading itself costs no gas **gas-free** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/onboarding/how-to-start-trading), checked 2026-09-26
- minimum deposit on the bridge and what happens below it **5** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/for-developers/api/usdc), checked 2026-09-26
- a native USDC deposit through the legacy bridge credits in under a minute **1** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/for-developers/api/usdc), checked 2026-09-26
- non-USDC deposits arrive as that asset and have to be sold for a quote asset before they are usable **sell** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/onboarding/how-to-start-trading), checked 2026-09-26
- the two documented ways a code gets onto an account: entered on the referrals page, or a friend's referral link; the page says nothing about cookies, devices or wallet signup **referrals** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/referrals), checked 2026-09-16
- Hyperliquid's deposit FAQ: an email login takes USDC on Arbitrum, Base, Ethereum and Polygon through Across, a wallet connection takes USDC via Arbitrum only, and the minimums differ **Arbitrum** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/support/faq/deposit-or-transfer-issues-missing-lost/deposited-usdc), checked 2026-09-26
- with a wallet connected, Deposit opens a window for USDC from Arbitrum with a 0.2 USDC fee line, and its Deposit Chain list has four entries, none of them Ethereum, Base or Polygon **0.2** (our screenshot Sep 2026: title 'Deposit USDC from Arbitrum'; 'A 0.2 USDC fee will be deducted from the USDC deposited.'; fields 'Asset' (USDC picked), 'Deposit Chain' (Arbitrum picked), 'Amount' with 'MAX', and a Deposit button; the Deposit Chain list, opened: 'Arbitrum', 'Arbitrum (Legacy Bridge)', 'Arbitrum (Swap USDT for USDC)', 'HyperEVM'. Desktop browser, EVM wallet connected, nothing deposited.), checked 2026-09-26
- before the Deposit window opens, Hyperliquid asks for a gas-free Establish Connection signature, again in each new browser tab **Establish** (our screenshot, 26 Sep 2026 (session record; not in the still hl-bridge): 'Establish Connection', 'This signature is gas-free to send. It opens a decentralized channel for gas-free and instantaneous trading.', with a 'Stay Connected' tick; asked again in each new tab), checked 2026-09-26
- Hyperliquid gives a user of a referral code a 4% discount on fees for their first $25M of volume **4%** (https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/referrals), checked 2026-09-17

## next

- [Where is deposit on Hyperliquid?](https://apebrief.com/hyperliquid/deposit/): Deposit is a button on the Trade page, not a menu.
- [Hyperliquid taker fee?](https://apebrief.com/hyperliquid/fees/): A $10,000 position opened and closed with market orders costs $9.00 in fees at the base rate
- [how to turn ETH you deposited on hyperliquid into USDC](https://apebrief.com/hyperliquid/eth-to-usdc/): Sell it on the ETH spot market against USDC. ETH sent on Ethereum lands as a spot balance, not as margin, so the sell comes first.
- [MetaMask asks to use its referral code on Hyperliquid](https://apebrief.com/hyperliquid/metamask-code/): Right after you connect MetaMask to Hyperliquid, MetaMask's side panel shows a box already ticked: 'Apply a MetaMask referral code to all future trades'.
- [hyperliquid vs lighter: fees, the code and getting money in](https://apebrief.com/vs/hyperliquid-lighter/): Hyperliquid for most perp traders: it's the more established venue, a code takes 4% off your fees for your first $25M of volume, and the code can go on after sign-up.

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HTML version: https://apebrief.com/hyperliquid/bridge/ · figures checked 2026-09-26