How to Move Your Crypto to a New Wallet Safely (Import, Transfer or Migrate)

The WATS Hot Wallet covers EVM chains and their L2s, Solana and TON in one non-custodial app, so a migration across all three happens in one place; it does not natively support Bitcoin. Moving crypto is three different operations: importing a seed phrase changes the software, not the keys, and nothing moves on-chain; transferring sends assets to freshly generated keys; migrating is a transfer plus cleanup: fresh keys, then revoking the old wallet's stale approvals. Import only if that phrase was never exposed — a leaked phrase stays leaked in any app.

Import vs Transfer vs Migrate: Three Very Different Moves

"Moving my crypto to a new wallet" can mean three different operations, and confusing them is where mistakes start. Importing means typing your existing seed phrase into new wallet software: nothing moves on-chain, and provided the new wallet derives accounts from the same derivation path, the same addresses simply reappear in a different app. Transferring means sending assets from an address you control to a brand-new address with its own freshly generated seed phrase — a real on-chain transaction that costs gas and leaves a permanent record. Migrating is the full project: transfer the assets, then wind down the old wallet's approvals, subscriptions and any accounts tied to that address.

Choosing is mostly a security question: if the old phrase is still trustworthy, importing is free and instant; if there is any chance it was exposed, importing carries the compromise into the new app and only fresh keys help.

One caveat: if a correct phrase shows an empty or unfamiliar account, the keys are almost always fine. Wallets use different BIP44 derivation paths and account indexes — Solana wallets vary, and legacy or Ledger-style EVM paths differ from the default — so check the derivation path or account list before assuming funds are gone. That mismatch, not lost funds, is the usual explanation.

When Importing a Seed Phrase Is the Right Choice (and When It Isn't)

Import when you are changing software, not changing keys: moving from a browser extension to a mobile app, adding a second device, or recovering after a lost phone. Before you do, understand what that phrase controls; our explainer on what a seed phrase is and how it works covers why one phrase can regenerate accounts across many chains.

Do not import if the phrase was ever photographed, typed into a website, stored in cloud notes, or entered on a machine you suspect is infected. A leaked phrase is leaked forever: no rotation, no password reset. The only safe path is new keys generated offline and everything transferred out, highest-value assets first.

Before You Move Anything: The Pre-Flight Checklist

Write down every chain and asset you hold, including staked, locked or LP positions that do not show as plain balances, and confirm the new wallet supports all of those chains. Back up the new seed phrase on paper or metal and test it by restoring into a clean app before funding it — an untested backup is a guess.

Then fund the new wallet with a little native gas on each chain you plan to use, unless it supports sponsored transactions: as of 2026 those exist in several still-evolving forms — ERC-4337 paymasters on EVM, fee-payer accounts on Solana, gasless jetton transfers on TON. Decide too what happens to positions that cannot be sent directly: staked tokens usually need unstaking and an unbonding period, and LP tokens often need withdrawing first, though many LP and liquid-staking tokens transfer like any other token.

Step-by-Step: Transferring Funds to a Brand-New Wallet

Work one chain at a time; never batch a first-time transfer. Send a small test amount, wait for confirmation, and check it is visible inside the new wallet — not just on a block explorer. Only then send the rest: stablecoins and blue chips first, then long-tail tokens, then NFTs. Leave enough native token in the old wallet to pay for the approval cleanup.

Verify the destination by comparing a middle segment — or the whole string — character by character, or by sending only to a saved contact you checked earlier. Clipboard-hijacking malware swaps addresses at paste time, and lookalike generators match the leading and the trailing characters, so glancing at the first and last few proves nothing.

Chain-by-Chain Gotchas: EVM, Solana and TON Addresses

Address formats are not interchangeable, and neither are the failure modes. EVM addresses look identical across Ethereum and every L2, which is the trap: sending on the wrong network to a contract-only address can strand funds. Solana uses base58 addresses and token accounts, so a token can require an associated account before it shows up. TON distinguishes bounceable from non-bounceable address forms and uses an optional memo field some services require. If any of that is unfamiliar, read how the major address formats differ before your first transfer — and never assume an address that is valid on one chain is yours on another.

Cleaning Up the Old Wallet: Approvals, NFTs and Dust

An empty wallet is not a closed wallet. Token approvals you granted years ago stay live, and each is scoped to the specific token contract you approved: if that address later receives more of that token — a refund, a mistaken deposit, a top-up — a stale unlimited approval lets the spender take it without another signature from you. Approvals cannot touch native ETH, SOL or TON, and cannot reach a token you never approved, so a random airdrop is not exposed by them. Still, revoke the approvals you no longer need on every chain the old wallet touched.

Dust and unknown tokens are rarely worth the gas to move, and unsolicited NFTs are often bait that routes you to a phishing site. Leave them, and stop using the address.

Common Mistakes That Cost People Money

The expensive ones repeat: typing a seed phrase into a website or support chat (no legitimate wallet ever asks); sending an entire balance in one transaction to an unverified address; forgetting that staked or bridged positions need unwinding first; and reusing the same phrase for the "old" and "new" wallet while believing the compromise is gone. And rushing: most losses happen when someone panics about a suspected compromise and skips verification.

How WATS uses this

The WATS Hot Wallet supports EVM chains and their L2s, Solana and TON, so a migration across all three happens in one app. It stays non-custodial throughout — you hold your keys, and WATS never holds a key.

One detail is specific to WATS: every action — transfers, swaps, staking — is charged in a single token, ATS, instead of the chain's native gas, using an ERC-4337 paymaster on EVM and an equivalent fee-payer relayer on Solana and TON. That does not make the network cheaper; the ATS fee tracks live network cost, and you still need an ATS balance before you transact. What changes is which token the fee is charged in. ATS is a LayerZero OFT, so a single balance works across EVM, Solana and TON, and collected ATS is burned from 100M toward a 30M floor. WATS is the first and only wallet to combine ERC-4337 and OFT single-token fees charged instead of native gas with that burn.