Send USDC on Base without ETH
You have USDC on Base but no ETH there, so your wallet cannot pay the gas. You can send it anyway, without bridging or buying ETH first.
Why your wallet refuses
Base charges gas in ETH, and it has to be ETH on Base. ETH on Ethereum or another network does not help, and USDC cannot pay the gas in a normal transfer. A very small amount of ETH would be enough, but with exactly 0 ETH nothing moves.
Your options
- Withdraw a little ETH from an exchange directly to Base. If you can do this, it is the cheapest route.
- Bridge ETH from another network, if you hold some there and have gas on that network.
- Use gasrescue when you have only the USDC and want it moved now.
How to send it with gasrescue
- Open gasrescue and connect a wallet such as MetaMask, Rabby or Phantom. Base is already selected, and the token list shows what you hold.
- Enter the amount, or press Max to send everything, and the recipient. The quote lists the network fee, the service fee and what the recipient gets.
- Sign once in your wallet. We send the transaction and pay the gas.
- You get a link to the transaction in the block explorer.
What it costs
The service fee is 0.5% of the amount, at least $0.25 and at most $2.00. Both fees are deducted from the amount you send, and the quote shows the exact figures before you sign.
What you sign
You sign one typed message, not a transaction, so you need no gas for it. Your wallet shows the amount and our contract. Recipient and fee are bound into a hash, so check those two in the quote on gasrescue.io. Transfer and fee run in one transaction: if it fails, nothing moves.
Need ETH instead?
You can also swap a few dollars of your stablecoins into ETH without holding any. It lands in your own wallet, so you can pay your own gas from then on. How a swap without gas works.
Common questions
Which wallets work?
Wallets that support typed-data signatures, such as MetaMask, Rabby or Phantom. Smart contract wallets, such as a Coinbase Smart Wallet, do not work yet.
Does this work for USDT on Base?
No. On Base gasrescue sends USDC only.
Before you start
Transfers are final, so check the recipient address carefully. Only sign on gasrescue.io. gasrescue is in early access and independent of every chain and wallet named here, so please start with a small amount.