Circle acquires Interop Labs team, initial developer of Axelar Network

Circle, issuer of the world's second-largest stablecoin, has acquired Interop Labs's team members and proprietary technology.

Interop Laps is the initial developer behind the Axelar Network. The company's CEO and co-founder, Sergey Gorbunov, will join Circle, according to a spokesperson.

"Interop Labs's engineering and product teams represent some of the brightest minds in the industry," a Circle spokesperson said. 

Circle said its goal is to make digital assets issued on Arc interoperable across various blockchains. The acquisition is expected to close early next year, the company added.

"Circle is committed to supporting interoperability with many onchain networks, just as we have with USDC, CCTP, and other blockchain infrastructure products from Circle," said Circle's Chief Product and Technology Officer Nikhil Chandhok.

Ripple, another U.S.-based stablecoin issuer, also made a move Monday aimed at increasing interoperability by expanding to Layer 2 blockchains. Stablecoin usage in the U.S. is poised to explode after Congress passed a legislative framework for the crypto tokens pegged to U.S. dollars.

Circle was careful to clarify what exactly it had acquired and how Axelar would move forward without Interop.

"The IP we're acquiring is specific to Interop Labs's proprietary technology," they said. "It does not include the open source IP, which will be transitioned to Common Prefix."

Common Prefix will take over for Interop Labs. "Axelar continues as an open-source innovator, and we are working closely with the Common Prefix team to ensure continuity and long-term support," Gorbunov said.

Earlier this year, Axelar Foundation, the nonprofit that supports the Axelar Network's growth interoperability protocol, said it sold $30 million worth of AXL tokens.