IBC USDT Withdrawal Guide

[paranjko]

Since we now have IBC USDT in the Gonka community pool, and some proposal payments and community rewards may be paid in IBC USDT, I put together a practical withdrawal guide for anyone who needs it.

The guide explains how to move IBC USDT from Gonka to Kava Cosmos, then to Kava EVM, and, if needed, further to Ethereum.

Please treat it as a practical community guide, not financial advice. Routes, fees, wallet interfaces, and bridge availability can change, so always verify the details yourself and send a small test transaction first.

Important: this guide is about IBC USDT on Gonka / Kava Cosmos.
Do not confuse it with native ERC-20 USDT on Ethereum, exchange USDT balances, or USDT on other networks. Always check the asset denom, source network, destination network, and destination address before sending funds.

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IBC USDT route: Gonka → Kava Cosmos → Kava EVM → Ethereum

Use this guide if you already have spendable IBC USDT in your Gonka wallet and want to follow this route. It describes the full path to Ethereum; you may stop after any completed leg and keep IBC USDT on Kava in Keplr, move it to Kava EVM in MetaMask, or continue to Ethereum.

Disclaimer: This guide is not financial advice. Route parameters, supported assets, fees, and wallet / bridge UIs can change. You are responsible for verifying the current route, addresses, and amounts before sending funds.

What you are doing

You will move funds in three steps:

1. Gonka → Kava (Cosmos) in Keplr
2. Kava → Kava EVM in app.kava.io
3. Kava EVM → Ethereum in Stargate

Before you start

You need:

• Spendable USDT on Gonka in your wallet balance
• Some GNK for Gonka transaction fees
• Some KAVA for Kava / Kava EVM fees
• Some ETH for Ethereum fees
• Keplr and MetaMask installed
• Willingness to do a small test transfer first

Useful official pages:

• Keplr help (including IBC): help.keplr.app
• Kava app (transfer + wKAVA): app.kava.io — transfer: app.kava.io/transfer
• Kava Help Center: help.app.kava.io
• Stargate bridge UI: stargate.finance/transfer
• Kava on bridging USDT with Stargate: How to Bridge USDt with Stargate

Important: use the right address at each step

• In Step 1, send to your Kava Cosmos address in Keplr: kava1...
• In Step 2, connect both wallets inside app.kava.io
• In Step 3, receive on your Ethereum address in MetaMask: 0x...

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Step 1 — Send USDT from Gonka to Kava (Cosmos)

In this step, you are sending from Gonka to your own Kava Cosmos address in Keplr.

1. Turn on manual IBC in Keplr

In Keplr:

Settings → Advanced → Manual IBC Transfer → ON

If labels differ slightly by version, use Keplr’s own docs: help.keplr.app.

2. Configure the transfer on Gonka

• Open Advanced IBC Transfer for your USDT / USDt asset

If Keplr shows Add IBC channel or New IBC channel, set:

• Destination chain: Kava
• Source Channel Id: channel-5

Then save it.

3. Copy your Kava address

• Make sure Kava is visible in Keplr
• Switch to Kava
• Copy your full kava1... address

4. Send a small test amount

On Advanced IBC Transfer, choose Kava (channel-5) from the destination dropdown.

Then:

• Paste your kava1... address
• Enter a small test amount
• Leave memo empty unless you are sending to an exchange deposit address that specifically requires a memo/tag
• Review the fee in ngonka
• Approve the transaction

Your USDT should appear on Kava in Keplr.

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Step 2 — Move USDT from Kava IBC to Kava EVM

In this step, you move the funds from Kava Cosmos to Kava EVM.

Start with a small test amount.

1. Open the Kava transfer tool

Open the Transfer page: app.kava.io/transfer.

2. Connect both wallets

• Connect Keplr for the Kava IBC side
• Connect MetaMask for the Kava EVM side

3. Set the route

Choose:

• Asset: USDT
• Sending chain: Kava IBC
• Receiving chain: Kava EVM
• click Transfer

Your USDT should appear on Kava EVM in MetaMask.

Kava’s help article on moving USDT across Kava surfaces (your direction here is Cosmos → Kava EVM): How to transfer USDt to Cosmos chains with a single click.

If USDT does not appear in MetaMask

MetaMask may not show the token automatically. You may need to import the token manually.
Kava help documentation has listed this USDT contract on Kava EVM:

0x919C1c267BC06a7039e03fcc2eF738525769109c

Before using it for a real transfer, verify it again in:

• the current Kava Help Center
• the app.kava.io UI
• your wallet’s token information

If MetaMask asks for decimals, use 6.

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Step 3 — Bridge USDT from Kava EVM to Ethereum

In this step, you bridge the funds from Kava EVM to Ethereum mainnet.

1. Open Stargate

Open: stargate.finance/transfer.

Background from Kava on this bridge pattern: How to Bridge USDt with Stargate.

2. Make sure MetaMask is on Kava EVM

Before you start, MetaMask should be connected to Kava EVM.

You are sending from Kava EVM, not from Ethereum.

3. Set the bridge route

In Stargate, choose:

• From / Source: Kava EVM
• To / Destination: Ethereum
• Asset: USDT

In some UIs, the source may be shown simply as Kava. What matters is that it matches the network where your USDT currently sits after Step 2.

4. Review fees and send a small test

Before you confirm:

• check the bridge fee
• check the estimated received amount
• send a small test first

Then approve the transaction in MetaMask.

Your USDT should appear on Ethereum Mainnet in MetaMask.

If Stargate does not offer this route

Stop there.

Do not guess an alternative bridge.

If USDT from Kava EVM to Ethereum is not shown, the route may be paused, changed, or temporarily unavailable.

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Step 4 — Confirm the funds on Ethereum

• Switch MetaMask to Ethereum Mainnet
• Check the USDT balance for your receiving address
• If needed, import the token manually

A commonly used Ethereum mainnet USDT contract is:

0xdAC17F958D2ee523a2206206994597C13D831ec7

Before importing, verify the current contract in a trusted source such as:

• Tether
• Etherscan
• your wallet’s verified token list

After the test amount arrives, you can repeat the same flow for the remaining balance.

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Optional — Move KAVA between Kava Cosmos and Kava EVM

If you need KAVA on the other side for gas, use: app.kava.io/evm/wkava.

Step-by-step from Kava: Send KAVA to and from Kava Cosmos and Kava EVM.

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Advanced note — verify the Gonka IBC channel before large transfers

For most users, this is not required for a small test transfer.

If you want to verify the current Gonka outbound channel before sending a larger amount, you can check it with:

curl -sS "https://node1.gonka.ai:8443/chain-api/ibc/core/channel/v1/channels" | jq '.channels[] | select(.port_id=="transfer") | {gonka_channel_id:.channel_id, kava_counterparty:.counterparty.channel_id}'

At the time this guide was prepared, the Gonka → Kava transfer used:

• Gonka side: channel-5
• Kava side: channel-161

When sending from Gonka, use the Gonka-side channel, which is channel-5.

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Final safety reminder

Before sending the full amount, make sure:

• Step 1 ended with USDT visible on Kava in Keplr
• Step 2 ended with USDT visible on Kava EVM in MetaMask
• Step 3 is offering USDT from Kava EVM to Ethereum in Stargate
• your test transfer completed successfully

If any of these checks fail, stop and review before moving the full balance.

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Stay safe, double-check everything, and always start with a small test transfer.

[rufatpro]

Спасибо за инструкцию. :)

Способ вывода, конечно, оставляет желать лучшего, так как содержит очень много шагов.

[mtvnastya]

@paranjko looks like a helpful instruction, can you open a PR to add it to gonka.ai documentation repo?

[paranjko]

Good call. Just did it!

[a-kuprin]

@paranjko
BTW.
I've used https://app.squidrouter.com to move KAVA IBC USDT, to ETH USDT directly.
So it was just use keplr to move to KAVA and use squidrouter to move directly to ETH USDT

[GLiberman]

Per SquidRouter calculator transaction takes around 17 minutes (which is significantly longer) plus looks like fees are a bit higher and I'm not sure that calculator shows correct final amount as there is extra exchange will take place: KAVA IBC USDT > Axelar USDT.

[a-kuprin]

I think as it is looking for different routes it highly depend on a moment.
When I've used it, it was no more than 1 minute to go through all transfers and final fee was ok.
Anyway it is normal practice in bridge routers to look on different apps and decide what matches better at each moment