# Send non-ETH ERC-20 tokens without ETH balance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Sending and Receiving Tokens\ **Created:** [December 16, 2024, 7:02am UTC](https://community.metamask.com/t/send-non-eth-erc-20-tokens-without-eth-balance/29929 "2024-12-16T07:02:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Greendrake](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/metamask/user_avatar/community.metamask.com/greendrake/32/37483_2.png) [@Greendrake](https://community.metamask.com/u/Greendrake)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:02am UTC](https://community.metamask.com/t/send-non-eth-erc-20-tokens-without-eth-balance/29929/1 "2024-12-16T07:02:57Z")
I’ve deposited some CRV to my MetaMask. Now I want to send them: ![Screenshot from 2024-12-16 19-57-51](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/metamask/original/3X/4/8/4867c3b2110d5c4ac86003e382851e86d8512e2b.png) It says I need some ETH to pay the fees. Okay. I am fine swapping some CRV to ETH to pay the fees to send CRV: ![Screenshot from 2024-12-16 18-42-59](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/metamask/original/3X/6/a/6a4a86046e0447a9859dcbe74a11c16b9603a70c.png) But it looks like in order to swap that I still need some ETH in the first place! 🤯 It that by design? Are my CRV now locked in MetaMask unless I deposit/buy some ETH? ---
**Author:** ![Chinzilla](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/metamask/user_avatar/community.metamask.com/chinzilla/32/14264_2.png) [@Chinzilla](https://community.metamask.com/u/Chinzilla)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:32am UTC](https://community.metamask.com/t/send-non-eth-erc-20-tokens-without-eth-balance/29929/2 "2024-12-16T07:32:24Z")
You need the native coin of the network you have those tokens on to pay for gas fees to transfer them out. ---
**Author:** ![Greendrake](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/metamask/user_avatar/community.metamask.com/greendrake/32/37483_2.png) [@Greendrake](https://community.metamask.com/u/Greendrake)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:54am UTC](https://community.metamask.com/t/send-non-eth-erc-20-tokens-without-eth-balance/29929/3 "2024-12-16T07:54:16Z")
Understandable. What’s not understandable though, is why the user is forced to suffer? Why not to design it such that part of the ETH to be gained from swapping is used to pay the gas? ---
**Author:** ![xf0707](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/metamask/user_avatar/community.metamask.com/xf0707/32/38482_2.png) [@xf0707](https://community.metamask.com/u/xf0707)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 8:03am UTC](https://community.metamask.com/t/send-non-eth-erc-20-tokens-without-eth-balance/29929/4 "2024-12-16T08:03:32Z")
In the various available EVM-compatible networks, gas fees are currently paid in network-native tokens: for example, ETH is required for any transaction on Ether; BNB is required to use BSC; POL (formerly known as MATIC) is required to use Polygon As far as I know some smart contract wallets currently support other limited tokens as gas fees. ---
**Author:** ![Greendrake](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/metamask/user_avatar/community.metamask.com/greendrake/32/37483_2.png) [@Greendrake](https://community.metamask.com/u/Greendrake)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 8:18am UTC](https://community.metamask.com/t/send-non-eth-erc-20-tokens-without-eth-balance/29929/5 "2024-12-16T08:18:50Z")
Right, so this is a feature request basically. When swapping _to_ ETH with no ETH to pay the gas, lend part of the would-be gained ETH to pay for it (and deduct the loan amount once swapping is complete) I actually found MetaMask searching for an open-source non-custodial wallet for CRV. I neither had nor cared of ETH. If I knew that MetaMask only allowed operating (swapping/sending) CRV provided that I also had some ETH, I would perhaps skip MetaMask. ---
**Author:** ![nakedwinnie](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/metamask/user_avatar/community.metamask.com/nakedwinnie/32/5551_2.png) [@nakedwinnie](https://community.metamask.com/u/nakedwinnie)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://community.metamask.com/t/send-non-eth-erc-20-tokens-without-eth-balance/29929/6 "2024-12-16T15:10:08Z")
This would be the case for all wallets, not just MetaMask. Requiring ETH for gas fees is because of the Ethereum blockchain, see here on our Knowledge Base for more info: > **[User Guide: Gas | MetaMask Help Center 🦊♥️](https://support.metamask.io/transactions-and-gas/gas-fees/user-guide-gas/)** > > New to crypto and web3? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/metamask/original/3X/3/8/3812168020a49f264784b1dbfcf12435abbb09ad.png) [@system](https://community.metamask.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 7:03am UTC](https://community.metamask.com/t/send-non-eth-erc-20-tokens-without-eth-balance/29929/8 "2025-01-15T07:03:03Z")
Closed on January 15, 2025, 7:03am UTC This topic was automatically closed after 30 days. New replies are no longer allowed.