How to swap: wallets, approvals and signing
A first swap from start to finish: choosing a wallet for your network, what an approval is and why it should be exact, what to check in the wallet window before you sign, and what the status steps mean.
Updated 2026-09-16 · 6 min
Pick a wallet for the network you are sending from
Wallets are per virtual machine, not per chain. One EVM wallet such as MetaMask or Rabby covers Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Sonic and the other EVM networks. Solana needs a Solana wallet: Phantom, Solflare or Backpack. Sui needs Slush or Suiet. Bitcoin needs Xverse, Leather or Unisat.
Never send from an exchange withdrawal. The exchange controls that address, so a refund or a failed intent has nowhere to return to that you can access.
Keep a little gas
Every source network charges gas in its own token: ETH on Ethereum and its rollups, SOL on Solana, POL on Polygon, BNB on BNB Chain. The amount is small on rollups and Solana, a few dollars on Ethereum mainnet. You do not need gas on the destination to receive; you need it there before you can move the funds again.
What an approval is
ERC-20 tokens cannot be pulled by a contract until you allow it. The approval is a separate transaction that sets an allowance for a specific contract. Many apps request an unlimited allowance so you never have to approve again; that convenience means a bug in that contract could drain the whole balance later.
Everychain requests the exact amount you entered, every time. The wallet window shows the spender contract and the amount; if either differs from what the page shows, reject it.
Read the wallet window
Three things to check before confirming the swap itself: the network you are signing on matches the From chain, the contract address matches the one shown on the route details, and the value being sent is the amount you typed. A malicious page can show one thing and hand your wallet another; the wallet window is the truth.
What the status steps mean
Submitted: your transaction is broadcast on the source chain. Confirmed: the source chain has finalised it; for an intent, this is when solvers can act. Filled: funds have arrived on the destination and there is an explorer link for that transaction. Failed: the intent expired or a step reverted; in both cases the funds are on the source chain, minus gas, and the app says which stage stopped.