To finish a Polygon PoS withdrawal, wait for the Polygon transaction to be included in a checkpoint on Ethereum, then submit a claim transaction from your wallet on Ethereum. The wait is commonly around 1–3 hours, but can take longer; you also need POL for gas on Polygon and ETH for the final claim.
- A withdrawal has two transactions: burn on Polygon, then claim on Ethereum.
- The checkpoint wait is the main delay; the claim itself usually settles within minutes.
- Keep the withdrawal’s transaction record and don’t start it again just because the claim is not ready yet.
Why are there two transactions?
On Polygon PoS, a withdrawal first burns the token representation held on Polygon. A Polygon validator checkpoint later records the relevant Polygon blocks on Ethereum; after that, a separate Ethereum transaction can release the corresponding asset held by the bridge.
A checkpoint is a batch of Polygon activity committed to Ethereum, along with evidence that a particular transaction belongs to it. The bridge waits for this step so Ethereum can verify the withdrawal before releasing funds. It is the reason a Polygon-to-Ethereum withdrawal takes longer than an ordinary transfer on either network.
The official Polygon Bridge is one way to make this kind of transfer between Polygon PoS and Ethereum. The same two-stage logic applies: the first transaction starts the withdrawal, while the claim completes it after the checkpoint is available.
What do I need before starting?
Have the asset you plan to withdraw and enough POL in your wallet on Polygon PoS to pay for the first transaction. You will also need ETH in that same wallet address on Ethereum to pay for the later claim; POL on Polygon cannot pay an Ethereum gas fee.
Check which asset you hold on Polygon and what its mapped version is on Ethereum. For example, a token shown as USDC on Polygon may be the bridged representation of USDC held on Ethereum. A matching name or ticker alone does not prove that two tokens are the same contract or belong to the same route.
How do I finish the withdrawal?
Suppose you want to move 25 USDC from Polygon PoS back to Ethereum. First, make sure the wallet is on Polygon PoS, has the 25 USDC and some POL, and that you can later switch it to Ethereum. If the token needs an approval transaction, approve the bridge to use the amount before submitting the withdrawal.
- Submit the withdrawal transaction on Polygon PoS and confirm it in your wallet. This burns the Polygon-side representation. Save the transaction hash, the unique identifier for that transaction.
- Wait for the checkpoint. Your wallet may show a waiting or pending stage during this time. You do not need to send a second withdrawal transaction while the first one is waiting.
- Once the withdrawal can be claimed, switch your wallet to Ethereum and submit the claim transaction. Check that the wallet shows the same address you used on Polygon, and have ETH available for gas.
- Wait for the claim transaction to confirm on Ethereum, then check that chain in your wallet or a block explorer for the released token.
In this example, the 25 Polygon-side USDC is burned first; the claim releases the corresponding asset on Ethereum. Each transaction has its own network gas cost, paid separately from the 25 USDC. The amount of gas changes with network demand, so check the wallet’s estimate before signing.
What if the claim is not ready or the funds are not visible?
If the checkpoint is still pending, the claim cannot yet release the Ethereum asset. Wait and use the saved Polygon transaction hash to check the withdrawal’s status; checkpoint timing varies, and network congestion or delayed checkpoint publication can extend the wait beyond the usual 1–3 hours.
If the checkpoint is recorded but you have not claimed, the withdrawal is not complete. Return to the official bridge’s withdrawal flow and submit the claim when it becomes available. A common edge case is closing the browser after the burn: the transaction continues on-chain, so reopening the bridge and finding the original withdrawal is the next step, rather than burning the tokens again.
After a successful claim, check Ethereum in your wallet and confirm the token contract if the balance looks different than expected. A token may not appear in the wallet’s default list even after it arrives. Polygon Bridge withdrawals work in stages, so track the burn and claim as separate transactions and keep enough gas for both chains.