Chainlink integrates with Circle’s CCTP protocol for cross-chain USDC transfers

Decentralized oracle project Chainlink LINK -3.69% has integrated Circle’s cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP) with its own CCIP system , aiming to securely move the USDC -0.38% stablecoin across blockchains. 

Chainlink said leveraging both technologies will open up new stablecoin use cases around payments and DeFi. “We’re excited to support the adoption of stablecoins across a variety of cross-chain use cases,” said Sergey Nazarov, co-founder at Chainlink. “I’m pleased to see that the defense-in-depth security infrastructure of CCIP, with multiple layers of decentralization, is highly valued by developers building with USDC.”

Both technologies — with similar-sounding acronyms — are designed to link assets across networks. Yet there are distinctions.

Chainlink’s CCIP is a generalized cross-chain messaging framework that allows developers to transfer data and assets across chains — using a smart contract-based mechanism that's powered by Chainlink oracles.

Meanwhile, Circle – the issuer of USDC — operates CCTP. This is a standardized bridge protocol that lets users make native USDC transfers by burning and minting the stablecoin between supported chains. CCTP is available on seven networks: Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Noble, OP Mainnet, and Polygon PoS.

Multiple interoperability-focused protocols and bridge projects — such as Celer Network, Li.Fi, and Wormhole — have already integrated Circle’s CCTP. Chainlink is the latest to do so.