Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol and its Effects

Circle, the firm behind the issuance and management of USDC, the second largest stablecoin by market cap, recently launched its cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP) on Ethereum and Avalanche, with plans to expand it to more chains in the near future.

CCTP is a smart contract module that dApps can integrate permissionlessly. It aims to replace the need for third-party cross-chain interoperability protocols that utilize either a lock-mint-burn or pool-based mechanism.