Warning: Directly transferring USDC to the Gateway Wallet contract with a standard ERC-20 transfer will result in loss of that USDC. You must use one of the deposit methods on the wallet contract to get a unified USDC balance.
Circle Gateway allows anyone to deposit USDC to non-custodial smart contracts on any supported source chain to create a unified USDC balance. Once deposits are finalized, the Gateway system can provide an attestation with a single API call that allows the user to mint USDC instantly on a destination chain, allowing next-block access to the full balance.
The current multichain environment presents fundamental challenges. Blockchains operate as isolated systems with no native way to communicate with each other. Users holding USDC on Ethereum can’t spend their USDC on Solana without a bridging step, which can be a barrier for adoption for unfamiliar users. Because there is no way to frictionlessly access USDC held across multiple chains, users must take extra steps to move their USDC in advance to transact on each destination chain.
This fragmentation introduces friction across the ecosystem. For end users, it means manually bridging assets, switching networks, managing chain-specific balances, and waiting through slow confirmation times—all of which degrade the experience of using applications across chains. For businesses, it means maintaining liquidity on multiple chains at once, constantly rebalancing capital, and dealing with integration and monitoring overhead. These burdens add cost, increase operational risk, and slow down development velocity. The outcome is a fractured liquidity landscape that limits access and usability, both for individual users and for organizations building on the blockchain.
Circle Gateway enables a frictionless USDC experience across the multichain ecosystem. Users can hold a balance in USDC across multiple chains and use it instantly on any supported chain, without manual movement, without relying on external liquidity, and while retaining full ownership and control.
The following is a high-level overview of how Gateway unlocks instant crosschain transfer of USDC.
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A Gateway user deposits USDC in a Circle-deployed Gateway Wallet contract.
The Gateway system observes the deposit transaction onchain and creates a unified USDC balance. Latency is dependent on source chain finality.
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When a Gateway user wants to mint USDC from the unified USDC balance to a destination chain, they sign a burn intent. The application that is integrated with Gateway submits the burn intent to the Gateway API.
The Gateway API responds with a signed attestation if the user's unified USDC balance is sufficient.
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The application submits the attestation to the Circle-deployed Gateway Minter contract on the destination chain.
The minter contract mints USDC to the intended recipient's wallet.
The Gateway system observes the mint transaction onchain, and uses the user-signed burn intent to burn USDC from the source chain wallet contract.
Circle Gateway allows you to build a unified USDC crosschain balance across multiple chains. If you are interested in a single bridging solution, see CCTP V2.
| Attribute | CCTP V2 | Circle Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Bridging from one chain to another (A -> B, B -> A) | Holding chain-abstracted USDC balance that is instantly accessible on multiple chains |
| Benefits | Fast and secure transfers, efficient rebalancing | Unified balances, instant and secure transfers, no rebalancing or inventory management |
| Architecture | Set of onchain contracts with offchain attestation API and Fast Transfer allowance infrastructure | Set of onchain contracts with offchain attestation API and balance tracking infrastructure |
| Features | Standard Transfer, Fast Transfer, and Hooks | Instant Transfer and Hooks |
| Network | See CCTP Supported Blockchains (CCTP V2 tab) | See Supported Blockchains |
| Custody | Non-custodial - users can use any non-custodial wallet to bridge USDC | Non-custodial - users retain ownership over USDC deposited to the Gateway Wallet contract. Users must always provide a signature to initiate any movement of USDC from the Gateway Wallet contract. Accessing USDC instantly requires both a user signature and a Circle-signed Gateway attestation. USDC can always be withdrawn trustlessly from the Gateway Wallet contract with a delay to prevent double-spend attacks. |
| Transfer speed | Dependent on source chain finality for Standard Transfer. ~8-20 seconds for Fast Transfer. | Instant (<500 ms) after balance is established for Instant Transfer |
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