Gnosis Chain, formerly xDai Chain, is an execution-layer EVM chain for stable transactions. Rather than using Ethereum to pay for gas fees, it uses the xDai stablecoin. Transactions cost just a few cents and running a validator requires only 1 GNO making staking much more accessible.

Dai can be bridged from Ethereum using the official OmniBridge but that route can be prohibitively expensive. It’s much more affordable to bridge from a Layer 2 or a sidechain such as Polygon. There are many different ways to do this, but here’s one I have often used.

To bridge to Gnosis Chain from Polygon:

1. For US citizens, one of the cheapest and easiest on-ramps is Crypto.com . Purchase MATIC with your bank account or credit card.
2. Withdraw the funds to your Polygon (MATIC) wallet. Be sure to select the Polygon (MATIC) network and not ERC-20.
3. Use a DEX such as 1inch to swap the MATIC to Dai.
4. Initiate a cross-chain transfer to bridge your Dai to xDAi on Gnosis Chain:
   • Connext Bridge
   • Hop Exchange