Bridge and swaps
Testnet only
Bridge and swap routes are active on testnet. Use test assets only, and confirm that the selected route is available before submitting an operation.
ZEL distinguishes four operations that can look similar in an interface but have different guarantees.
| Operation | Where it settles | Typical behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Zano–ZEL bridge | Zano plus ZEL | Locks/accounts for value on the source side and makes an equivalent representation available on the destination side |
| External bridge | ZEL plus another chain | Moves a supported asset through a route with its own confirmations, signer policy, caps, and recovery behavior |
| Cross-chain swap | Two networks | Combines a bridge operation with destination execution; the bridge may complete even if the destination swap falls back |
| ZEL-local AMM swap | ZEL only | Executes against an on-chain liquidity pool in one ZEL transaction |
Zano Ionic Swaps are a fifth, separate mechanism: private peer-to-peer swaps that settle on Zano L1. They should never be presented as a ZEL AMM swap.
Before starting
Verify all of the following in the active application or explorer:
- Source and destination networks.
- Asset identity and contract address.
- Recipient address and who controls it.
- Route status, minimum and maximum amount, cap, and rate limit.
- Expected confirmations, delay, fee, and minimum received.
- Refund, fallback, cancellation, and manual-review behavior.
Never send funds directly to an observed gateway or contract address unless the current guide explicitly instructs you to do so. Bridge deposits often require operation-specific metadata or a generated address.
Follow the bridge path
- Start with the end-to-end bridge flow.
- Choose Zano to ZEL or ZEL to Zano.
- Integrators should implement the Bridge API.
- Use operation lifecycle and recovery when an operation is delayed or incomplete.