The first time you send a token through a route, you'll usually approve it first. An approval lets the bridge or swap contract move that token from your wallet. It's a separate transaction with its own small network fee.
You don't need to approve when sending a chain's gas token, such as ETH on Ethereum.
Why approve?
Tokens can't be moved out of your wallet without your permission. An approval gives one contract permission to move up to a set amount of one token. Superbridge asks for the amount you're sending, and your wallet shows the amount before you confirm.
When a route needs an approval, the review screen button says Continue. The steps then show Approve, followed by the name of the token, before Start.
- Select Approve and confirm in your wallet.
- When the approval confirms, select Start and confirm the transfer.
If you approved enough of the token for this contract before, Superbridge skips this step.
Smart wallets, such as Coinbase Smart Wallet, can bundle the approval and the transfer into one confirmation, so you won't see a separate step.
Revoke first
Some tokens, such as USDT on Ethereum, don't let you change an existing approval. If you've approved some of the token before, but not enough for this transfer, it first has to be reset to zero.
In that case you'll see three steps: Revoke, then Approve, then Start. Each one is a transaction in your wallet. Revoking doesn't move any tokens; it only clears the old permission.
Manage your approvals
Approvals stay in place after your transfer. You can review and remove approvals you no longer need with an approval-checker tool or your block explorer's token approval page. Removing one is a transaction, so it costs a small network fee.
Never approve a token for a site or contract you don't trust. Scams and security
Last reviewed September 28, 2026