WETH wallet

What is WETH (WETH)?

WETH exists because of an accident of history: ETH predates the ERC-20 standard and therefore does not behave like an ERC-20 token. Contracts that expect approvals and transferFrom cannot handle raw ETH, so a wrapper contract was written that takes ETH in and issues an equal number of tokens that do follow the standard. Send WETH back to the contract and it returns the ETH. The ratio is one to one and the process needs no counterparty - the contract holds the ETH, and the balance can always be unwrapped.

The practical consequence for a holder: WETH is ETH wearing a different coat, but a wallet treats it as a separate asset. It shows as its own line, and it cannot pay gas. Wrapping the last of your ETH into WETH leaves you holding value you cannot move, because the unwrapping transaction itself needs ETH for the fee. Leaving a working balance of unwrapped ETH is the habit that avoids this.

The bigger thing to know is that WETH is not one token. Every chain has its own wrapped-ether contract, and beyond Ethereum the token is usually bridged ether rather than a local wrapper - a different issuer, a different contract, backed in a different way. A balance labelled WETH on one network has no relationship to a balance labelled WETH on another, even when the letters and the address string look identical.

Supported networks in Tangem (5): Ethereum, BNB Beacon Chain, TRON, Terra, Shibarium. Each is a separate entry with its own balance, and the app states the network a transaction goes out on while you still have the chance to check it against what the recipient expects, before the card signs. Given how many WETHs there are, that visibility is worth having on a wallet you keep long term.