Circle moves native USDC offering to Cosmos mainnet

The issuer behind the second-largest stablecoin is continuing its foray into permissionless transfers

share

Circle has moved its cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP) to mainnet on Noble, allowing USDC to be natively minted within Cosmos’ inter-blockchain communication protocol (IBC).

By facilitating easier cross-chain transactions, Circle seeks to improve the utility of USDC, potentially helping to break a prolonged slump in its market capitalization.

Noble joins the likes of Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum and Optimism in allowing native USDC minting via the CCTP. The CCTP is on Solana’s testnet.

Circle’s cross-chain protocol lets users create Noble USDC that can be moved to other Cosmos apps like Osmosis or dYdX. The total supply of Noble USDC is already above $20 million, according to MintScan.

The CCTP employs a burn-and-mint mechanism to facilitate the native creation of USDC across different blockchains. In this process, USDC is removed from circulation on the source chain (burned) and then recreated (minted) on the destination chain, based on a verification (attestation) by Circle’s system.

This approach, focusing on direct asset transfer, stands in contrast to token bridging, where assets are locked on one chain in exchange for equivalent wrapped tokens on another. The direct burn-and-mint method has seemingly gained preference over time, particularly in light of multiple high-profile hacks associated with token bridging.

If users want to remove USDC from Cosmos through Circle’s protocol, they must go through Noble. Circle says trying to move funds to a Circle account from any other app in the IBC “could result in a loss of funds.”

USDC’s market cap is mired in over a year of decline since its $55 billion peak in mid-2022. USDC’s current market cap is $23.68 billion, according to DeFiLlama. Tether (USDT), the only stablecoin larger than USDC, has grown from $66 billion to $88 billion over the same time frame. 

As a centralized company, Circle’s investment in a permissionless cross-chain protocol joins a broader trend of centralized crypto projects bolstering their decentralized finance (DeFi) offerings

According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Circle is considering an initial public offering in early 2024.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (2).png

Research

This reports analyzes the competitive dynamics of the Solana DEX landscape, identifying sustainable moats per protocol. We also find that Raydium (RAY), Orca (ORCA), and Lifinity (LFNTY) are valued very similarly on a P/S basis and what this could mean for Meteroa's (MET) valuation, which is still pre-TGE.

article-image

Accepting change is hard, but maybe we’ll never actually get to run back 2021

article-image

As Solana’s tech matures, some founders are starting new businesses based on old ideas that weren’t formerly feasible

article-image

History suggests tariff threat-fueled trade war fears often pass as quickly as they form, analyst Matt Britzman noted

article-image

Many look to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas for credibility regarding ETF approvals

article-image

AI platform Kaito’s tweet-to-earn leaderboard gives users points for posting about crypto

article-image

Lido’s new BORG Foundation aims to strengthen governance and institutional adoption