In this guide
What this covers
Bridging fails people in two predictable ways: they pick the route with the smallest advertised fee and pay more in spread, or they arrive on a network with no gas token and cannot move. This guide covers both.
1. Ask for the move and the landing
Mention gas in the prompt so it becomes part of the same transaction:
Bridge 40,000 USDC from Arbitrum to Base and leave me enough ETH for gas.2. Compare on landed cost, not fee
Maren ranks routes by what actually leaves your balance:
| Component | Included | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Bridge fee | Yes | The advertised number |
| Spread | Yes | Where cheap routes usually get expensive |
| Source gas | Yes | Paid on the origin network |
| Destination top-up | Yes | Small, and easy to forget |
A route with a higher fee and a tighter spread frequently wins. That is the whole reason to compare.
3. Confirm the arrival state
The confirmation states what you will hold on the destination chain, gas included. Check that the top-up is enough for the next action you have in mind, not merely enough to exist.
Bridging is the one place where "cheapest" and "best" diverge most often. Read the landed cost line, not the fee line.
4. Approve once
One approval covers both legs. Maren tracks the transfer and confirms arrival; the top-up settles in the same flow.
Tips
- If you are bridging in order to trade, say so. Maren sizes the gas top-up for the follow-on transaction.
- Large transfers are worth splitting across two routes when a single one would eat the depth.
- Ask for the runner-up routes and why they lost. It is a fast way to build intuition.
Troubleshooting
Transfer pending longer than the estimate. Destination finality varies with congestion. Maren keeps watching and confirms on arrival; do not re-send.
Arrived without usable gas. The prompt omitted the top-up. Ask Maren to sponsor the first transaction — see Cover a first transaction with sponsored gas.
The controls behind this workflow
- Routes are ranked on landed cost — fee, spread, and destination gas together.
- Destination gas is funded in the same flow, so you never arrive stranded.
- Unverified or newly deployed bridge contracts are excluded from routing.
Guides describe how to operate Maren. They are not financial advice, and figures shown are illustrative. You approve every transaction before it is signed.