Swap Bitcoin for USDC on Ethereum without an account: enter the amount, paste a 0x… address and send BTC from any wallet.
ETHYou hold bitcoin and want a dollar balance issued by Circle on Ethereum — to pay a contractor who invoices in USDC, to fund a DeFi position, or to sit out a move in the price without leaving your own wallet for an exchange account.
There is no direct path. A Bitcoin transaction can only reach a Bitcoin address, and USDC is a token contract on Ethereum. The BTC is received at a one-time address here, confirmed twice — about 21–44 minutes — and USDC is then transferred to your 0x… address. USDC exists natively on several chains; this route pays it on Ethereum only.
 BTC on Bitcoin |  USDC on EthereumERC-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| Address format | 1…, 3…, bc1… | 0x… (42 characters) |
| Fee token | BTC | ETH |
| Confirmations we wait for | 2 | 15 |
| Explorer | blockchain.com | etherscan.io |
Paste the 42-character 0x… address that should hold the USDC. The estimate is shown in USDC.
You get a one-time Bitcoin address. Send the exact amount with a fee your wallet expects to confirm within a few blocks.
2 confirmations, about 21–44 minutes. The USDC amount is fixed at the second confirmation.
The status page links the Etherscan transaction that moves USDC to your address.
USDC on Base, Polygon and Arbitrum uses the same 0x… format as Ethereum, and USDC on Solana uses a base58 address. The form rejects the Solana one; it cannot tell a Base address from a mainnet one because they are the same string. Only the network you opened the address for determines where you will see the money.
Two confirmations average twenty minutes but can take an hour when blocks are slow or your fee is low. The USDC figure is set at the second confirmation, at that moment's rate. If the price moves meanwhile, the payout moves with it.
| Way | What you need | Where it is slower or dearer |
|---|---|---|
| An exchange account | An account, a BTC deposit, a sale into USDC, an ERC-20 withdrawal | Two waits, a withdrawal fee, and an account that records the trade |
| Wrapped BTC on a DEX | A custodian or bridge to wrap the BTC, an Ethereum wallet with ETH, a DEX swap | Three transactions, gas on each, and a wrapped token in between |
| This swap | Two addresses | A floating rate fixed at the second Bitcoin confirmation |
Both legs are public. The Bitcoin explorer shows your inputs, the deposit address, the amount and the fee. Etherscan shows a USDC transfer event from a payout address to your 0x… address with the amount and the time. The two are on different chains and nothing on either one links them, except the status page you keep.
About 21–44 minutes: 2 Bitcoin confirmations plus processing. The Ethereum transfer at the end confirms in about 12 seconds.
Circle. USDC on Ethereum is native, issued by Circle under its own contract; it is not a wrapped or bridged version.
Either works as a dollar balance. If the receiver, the app or the exchange you are heading to lists USDC, take this route; if it lists USDT, take the Bitcoin to USDT route instead.
No — the payout is paid by the sender. You need ETH the first time you move the USDC on.
It is shown under the amount field and rises with the Bitcoin fee market and Ethereum gas.
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.
About the coins on this route: Bitcoin (BTC) · USD Coin (USDC)
Read next Floating rate: what changes between the estimate and the payout
Read next Reading a swap status page: every state from waiting to finished
