$5 of USDC Was Stuck on Base With Zero ETH. We Rescued It Cross-Chain for $0.21
An agent burner wallet held 5 USDC on Base mainnet and exactly 0 ETH — a trap: ERC-20 transfers need native gas the wallet can't pay. On 2026-10-24 we ran the rescue live: a ~$0.17 gas refuel, then Circle CCTP Base→Arc. Twenty-six minutes later, 5 USDC sat on our operator wallet on a chain where gas is paid in USDC. The trap Burner 0x3bF7…b89f : 5 USDC on Base, 0 ETH. Every exit needs ETH gas —…
On October 24, 2026, a burner wallet on the Base mainnet held 5 USDC without any associated ETH, creating a potential trap. ERC-20 transfers require native gas, which the wallet lacked the funds to pay for. Our team executed a rescue operation, spending approximately $0.17 in gas to refill the wallet, then executing a cross-chain transfer using the Circle CCTP protocol from Base to Arc. After 26 minutes, the 5 USDC arrived in our operator wallet on Arc, where gas is paid in USDC.
The rescue process involved several steps. Initially, we attempted to use GasZip via LI.FI, but the provider minimum required 0.5 USDC, which our operator only had 0.19. We then resorted to using the Relay Protocol, which accepted 0.185 USDC and executed an ERC-20 approve + deposit on Arc. This step cost around 0.02 USDC and took approximately 11 seconds.
We then proceeded with the Circle CCTP transaction from Base to Arc, which minted the USDC on Arc. The entire process took about 26 minutes, with the attestation phase taking the majority of the time. The rescue operation cost us roughly 0.21 USDC, or about 4% of the rescued amount.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.