--- title: Swap BTC to ETH without an account | Sablebolt description: Swap BTC for ETH without an account: live floating rate, network fee shown before you send, about 21–44 minutes from deposit to payout. url: https://sablebolt.io/swap/btc/eth --- # Swap BTC to ETH Swap Bitcoin for Ethereum without an account: enter the amount, paste your 0x… address and send BTC from any wallet. - **Arrival:** ≈ 21–44 min - **Confirmations:** 2 on Bitcoin - **Rate:** Floating - **Fee token after arrival:** ETH ## When this route is the right one You hold bitcoin and want ETH: to use Ethereum at all — every action there needs ETH for gas — to buy something priced in ETH, or to hold the second-largest coin alongside the first. The two oldest routes in crypto still cannot be done inside one wallet. Bitcoin and Ethereum are separate networks with separate rules. A Bitcoin transaction cannot credit a 0x… address, and Ethereum cannot verify a bitcoin payment. The route receives your BTC at a one-time address, waits for 2 confirmations — plan for 21–44 minutes — and sends ETH to the address you gave. The ETH amount is fixed at the second confirmation, so the estimate you see when you send is not the final figure. ## BTC vs ETH — side by side | | BTC on Bitcoin | ETH on Ethereum | |---|---|---| | Address format | 1…, 3…, bc1… | 0x… (42 characters) | | Fee token | BTC | ETH | | Confirmations we wait for | 2 | 15 | | Explorer | blockchain.com | etherscan.io | ## What happens, in order 1. Enter the BTC amount and your Ethereum address Paste the 0x… address — 42 characters — where the ETH should arrive. The estimate is in ETH and follows both prices. 2. Send bitcoin to the deposit address The page shows a Bitcoin address that exists for this swap only. Pay the exact amount as a single transaction and choose a fee that should confirm within a few blocks. 3. Bitcoin confirms 2 confirmations, about 21–44 minutes. The ETH amount is fixed at the second one. 4. ETH is paid out The status page links your deposit on the Bitcoin explorer and the Etherscan transaction crediting your address. The ETH is usable as soon as it is mined. ## Before you send — checklist - The receiving address is an Ethereum address: 0x followed by 40 hexadecimal characters, and you expect ETH on the Ethereum mainnet. - If it belongs to an exchange, the deposit page says ETH on the Ethereum network — not Arbitrum, Optimism or Base, which exchanges also offer for ETH. - The Bitcoin fee is set to confirm soon; the rate floats until the second confirmation. - You send one transaction for the full amount; two payments to the deposit address are not merged. - You saved the status link. ## The two mistakes that cost money on this route ### Expecting the ETH on a rollup ETH exists as a separate balance on Ethereum and on each rollup, under the same 0x… address. This route pays ETH on the Ethereum mainnet. If your plan was to use the ETH on Base or Arbitrum, you will have to bridge it after it arrives, and that bridge transaction costs mainnet gas. ### Measuring the time by Ethereum Ethereum is fast here — the payout is mined within a block or two. The wait is Bitcoin: two confirmations, which average twenty minutes but can run past forty when blocks are slow or the mempool is full. The status page shows which confirmation it is on. ## Other ways to make the same move | Way | What you need | Where it is slower or dearer | |---|---|---| | An exchange account | An account; a BTC deposit with the exchange's confirmation count, a trade into ETH, a withdrawal | Sign-up, a trading fee, a withdrawal fee in ETH, two waits | | Wrapping BTC on Ethereum, then a DEX | A custodian or bridge that mints a BTC token, ETH for gas you may not have yet, a DEX swap | A minting fee and gas twice; impossible from an empty Ethereum wallet | | This swap | Two addresses | A floating rate fixed at the second Bitcoin confirmation | ## What is visible on-chain Your bitcoin transaction to the deposit address stays on the explorer for good: inputs, amount, fee. Etherscan shows a plain ETH transfer from a payout address to your 0x… address with the amount and the gas the sender paid. Both are public for anyone who knows the address or the hash; the two chains carry no reference to each other. ## FAQ How long does it take? Roughly 21–44 minutes — two Bitcoin confirmations and a little processing. The Ethereum payout is mined within a block or two after that. Why 2 Bitcoin confirmations? A single block can still be replaced. Two make a reversal impractical for the amounts a swap handles, and ETH once sent cannot be recalled. Is it ETH or a token? ETH itself, on the Ethereum mainnet: the coin every transaction there spends as gas. Not WETH, not an ETH token on another chain. Can I receive to an empty Ethereum wallet? Yes. Receiving ETH costs the recipient nothing, and this is the usual way to put the first ETH into a new wallet. Which Bitcoin address types can I send from? All of them: 1…, 3…, bc1q… and bc1p…. We choose the deposit address; all your wallet needs is the ability to send to it. What if the swap cannot be completed? Write to support with the swap ID from the status page. The form has no refund address: a swap that cannot be completed is handled by hand, and a return to the address you sent from is arranged under the partner's rules, less the network fee. ## Related routes About the coins on this route: [Bitcoin (BTC)](https://sablebolt.io/coin/bitcoin) · [Ethereum (ETH)](https://sablebolt.io/coin/ethereum) - [USDT TRC-20 → BTC](https://sablebolt.io/swap/usdt-trc20/btc) - [BTC → USDT TRC-20](https://sablebolt.io/swap/btc/usdt-trc20) - [USDT BEP-20 → BTC](https://sablebolt.io/swap/usdt-bep20/btc) - [USDT ERC-20 → BTC](https://sablebolt.io/swap/usdt-erc20/btc) - [BTC → USDT ERC-20](https://sablebolt.io/swap/btc/usdt-erc20) - [BTC → XMR](https://sablebolt.io/swap/btc/xmr) Read next [Floating rate: what changes between the estimate and the payout](https://sablebolt.io/blog/floating-rate-estimate-vs-payout) Read next [Reading a swap status page: every state from waiting to finished](https://sablebolt.io/blog/reading-a-swap-status-page) Read next [Instant swap services compared: account, custody, networks, fee disclosure](https://sablebolt.io/blog/instant-swap-services-compared) ## External resources - [CoinGecko — Ethereum](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/ethereum) - [Bitcoin developer guide — transactions](https://developer.bitcoin.org/devguide/transactions.html) - [ethereum.org — gas and fees](https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/gas/) - [Etherscan](https://etherscan.io/)