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To trade or provide liquidity on RivrDEX, you need tokens in your Vara wallet. There are two ways to get them: buy VARA on a centralized exchange and withdraw it, or bridge assets from Ethereum with the Vara Network Bridge.

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Buy VARA on an exchange

VARA is currently traded on: Buy VARA, then withdraw it to your Vara wallet address (the one from SubWallet). Before withdrawing, make sure the exchange supports withdrawals on the native Vara Network — the always-current list of supported platforms lives on the official vara.network/get-vara page.

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Bridge assets to Vara

1

Open the bridge

Go to bridge.vara.network and make sure the network selector in the top-left shows Mainnet (Vara Mainnet · Ethereum Mainnet).
2

Connect your wallets

Connect MetaMask for the Ethereum side and your Vara-compatible wallet (SubWallet or Polkadot.js extension) for the Vara side. Both addresses appear in the top navigation bar.
3

Select asset and amount

On the Bridge tab, choose the token to send and enter the amount.
Bridge USDT only. The DEX currently trades against wUSDT — there is no wETH/VARA or wUSDC/VARA pair yet. If you bridge ETH or USDC, you’ll receive wrapped tokens you can’t swap. Bridge USDT → wUSDT and you’re set.
Paste your Vara address in the Bridge to field — or click Use Wallet Address to fill it automatically.In Transfer Settings:
  • Transfer Speed: pick Fast — your bridge completes in ~20 minutes. Common is slower.
  • Claim Type: keep Automatic (the default). With Manual you’d have to claim the tokens yourself, which requires VARA for gas — exactly what a new user doesn’t have yet. Automatic delivers the tokens on its own.
4

Confirm and wait

Review the expected fee and bridge time, then click Submit and approve the transaction in your wallet. Bridging takes approximately 20 minutes — track progress in the Transactions tab. Once complete, your wrapped tokens (e.g. wUSDT) appear in your Vara wallet.
If your transaction appears stuck after the first signature, don’t worry — your tokens are locked but safe. The bridge UI will notify you to sign a second pending transaction to complete the transfer.

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Supported tokens

The bridge supports all of the above, but the DEX currently has live trading pairs only against wUSDT — bridge USDT unless you specifically need another asset on Vara.

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No VARA? Your first swap is covered

You don’t need any VARA to make your first transaction on RivrDEX — the network fee for your first swap is covered automatically with a voucher.
Prefer a screen-by-screen walkthrough with pictures? See First swap with the voucher.
1

Bridge a stablecoin

Bridge USDT (Ethereum) → wUSDT (Vara) with the Vara Network Bridge. Leave Claim Type on Automatic (the default) so your tokens arrive without a manual claim.
2

Make your first swap — with zero VARA

Go to app.rivrdex.io and swap. RivrDEX covers the gas for this first swap, even with an empty VARA balance.
3

Swap into VARA and you're set

Make that first swap wUSDT → VARA: you come out holding VARA, which covers gas for everything you do afterwards.

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Where is my VARA? (wVARA)

Some swaps deliver wVARA (wrapped VARA) instead of native VARA. It’s the same value — it just needs one click to unwrap:
  1. After the swap, a “Receive VARA” dialog may appear — click it and you’re done.
  2. Missed the dialog? Whenever your wallet holds wVARA, the Swap page shows a “You have … wVARA” banner — click Receive VARA to convert directly on the DEX, any time.
  3. You can also convert on the bridge: open the My Tokens tab and click Convert To VARA.
Your funds are never lost — if a balance looks missing, check the Swap page banner or the My Tokens tab first, then refresh the page or reconnect your wallet.

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What’s next

Once you have tokens in your Vara wallet, head to the Swap page to make your first trade, or visit Pools to start earning fees by providing liquidity.
Trading on RivrDEX also earns Rewards points — verify your wallet at rivrdex.io/rewards before you start so every swap counts.