Guide: How to Use the Molecular Bridge

Guide: How to Use the Molecular Bridge

June 04, 2024

The Molecular Bridge is a proof-of-concept that uses MEM to interface with EVM chains and ao testnet. In the bridge testnet phase, we support USDC bridging between Sepolia, MEM, and ao.

👉 Read the full announcement here and learn how it works

Here’s how to get started with the bridge testnet:

Get Sepolia ETH

sepolia faucet

EVM gas for the testnet MEM Bridge can be obtained from any Ethereum Sepolia Faucet. We recommend the Alchemy faucet, but there are also reliable options from Infura and QuickNode.

Get Sepolia USDC from the Circle faucet

circle faucet

The recommended way to get USDC that’s compatible with the Molecular Bridge is via the official Circle faucet for Sepolia. It is limited to a claim of 10 USDC per day. The faucet may behave unexpectedly depending your location and browser, but we’ve seen most success claiming from Chrome on a mobile device.

Bridge from Sepolia to MEM

mem bridge from sepolia

Go to mem.tech/bridge to send USDC to MEM and ao.

After confirming the spend approval and transaction in your wallet, the bridge will take around 60 seconds to send the Sepolia USDC to MEM.

Once complete, check the History tab in the bridge to see the explorer links for Sepolia and MEM.

mem bridge history

Bridge from MEM to ao

mem bridge to ao

It is necessary to bridge from MEM to ao since bridging directly from EVM to ao is not possible. Once your funds are on MEM, choose the MEM -> ao route in the bridge and input your Arweave address for ao.

Add mwUSDC to your ArConnect wallet

adding mwUSDC to arconnect

To see mwUSDC (MEM-wrapped USDC) in your ArConnect balance for ao, open ArConnect, click ‘View all’ next to Assets, then click ‘Manage assets’ at the bottom of the list. In the new window that opens, scroll to the bottom and click ‘Import Token’.

Add a new token with the ao process ID:

oDMJXlSOhJ6UjH5i7Dl-UOr_dhS1rQCX4r9ws0jvFps

Now you should see your mwUSDC balance in ArConnect, and be able to use it like any other ao token.