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Your first swap

By the end of this page you will have moved a test USDC between two blockchains, using nothing but a sentence.

Time needed: about 10 minutes, most of it waiting for a faucet.

1. What you need​

  • A browser (Chrome, Brave, Firefox, or Edge).
  • A crypto wallet browser extension. If you don't have one, install MetaMask — it's free and takes two minutes.
  • A tiny amount of testnet gas on the chains you want to swap between. You get this free from a faucet.
  • Some testnet USDC to swap. Also free.

We'll get the gas and the USDC in the next step.

2. Fund your wallet on testnet​

Open your wallet and copy your address (a string starting with 0x…). Then:

Gas (you need enough to sign one or two transactions — a few cents' worth is plenty):

Testnet USDC: the easiest path is to ask in the LinkiSwap community for a mint — testnet USDC is a special mock token, not the real one. See Supported networks for the exact contract addresses and mint instructions.

If any of this feels unfamiliar, walk through Wallet setup first, then come back here.

3. Open the app​

Go to linkiswap.app and click Connect Wallet in the top right. Approve the connection prompt in your wallet.

You should now see the intent bar in the middle of the page — a big search-style input with an animated placeholder.

4. Type a sentence​

Click into the intent bar and type:

swap 1 USDC on OP Sepolia for USDC on Polygon Amoy

Press Enter (or click the arrow).

You'll see:

AI is interpreting your intent…

then:

Asking solvers for a quote…

then a confirm card showing exactly what you're about to do: how much you're paying, how much you'll receive, on which chain, and an estimated time.

Take a moment to read it. If it doesn't match what you meant, click Cancel and try a different sentence — see Writing intents for the phrasing patterns that work.

5. Approve, sign, wait​

Click Confirm. Your wallet will pop up up to two times:

  1. Approval (first swap on a given chain only). LinkiSwap asks your wallet's permission to move your input token. This is a one-time step per token, per chain, and uses the Permit2 standard. Approve it.
  2. Signature. You sign a short message describing exactly this swap — no funds move yet, just a signed intent.

Now sit back. The bar shows a live status:

  • pending — the solver has picked up your intent.
  • filled — the solver has delivered your tokens on the destination chain. This is when your funds arrive.
  • settled — the solver has claimed its own reimbursement.
  • finalized — done, on-chain.

Once the status hits settled, a completion modal pops up with a link to the block explorer. You can verify the transfer on-chain.

What just happened​

You didn't:

  • Pick a bridge.
  • Pick a DEX.
  • Move funds through an intermediate chain.
  • Manage two wallets.

You just described the outcome. LinkiSwap found an independent solver willing to deliver your tokens on the destination chain up front, took your input on the source chain into escrow, and settled the whole thing atomically. The solver pays the destination gas; you only paid gas on the source chain (for the approval + the signature was free).

That's the whole model. Every future swap works exactly the same way.

→ Learn what other sentences you can type