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Circle Announces Native USDC Is Now Live on Aptos Mainnet

Circle has launched Native USDC on Aptos, eliminating reliance on bridged assets. The upgrade streamlines DeFi, payments, and cross-chain transfers.

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Tanzeel Akhtar

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Tanzeel Akhtar has been reporting on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology since 2015. Her work has appeared in leading publications including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CoinDesk, Bitcoin...

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Last updated:

January 30, 2025

Circle officially launched Native USDC on the Aptos mainnet on Thursday, making the stablecoin directly accessible on the Move-based layer-1 blockchain.

This eliminates the need for cross-chain bridging, streamlining transactions for users and developers.

Native USDC is now live on @Aptos!

This marks a significant milestone for the Aptos ecosystem, empowering developers and users with access to the world’s largest regulated digital dollar.https://t.co/s0Pue9iYzv

USDC powers innovative use cases:
✅Build secure apps for… pic.twitter.com/2Qg3pr0XSy
— Circle (@circle) January 30, 2025

Aptos later confirmed plans to integrate Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), enabling USDC transfers across multiple blockchains.

USDC Integration Expands Opportunities on Aptos

Aptos, a blockchain designed with the Move programming language, has seen rapid growth in its DeFi ecosystem.

The network hosts over 200 decentralized applications (dApps) as of January 2025, making it an attractive platform for financial and payment solutions.

With Native USDC now available, developers can leverage the stablecoin for use cases such as decentralized finance (DeFi), peer-to-peer payments, cross-border remittances, global commerce, real-world assets (RWAs), and gaming.

The Move programming language provides security features like formal verification and built-in unit testing, enhancing the stability of financial applications built on Aptos.

Transitioning From Bridged to Native USDC

Before this launch, Aptos users relied on lzUSDC, a bridged version issued via the AptosBridge on LayerZero.

Unlike Native USDC, lzUSDC was not directly issued by Circle and could not be redeemed 1:1 through Circle’s official minting platform.

With the introduction of Native USDC, the Aptos ecosystem is transitioning away from bridged tokens.

This change improves the efficiency and reliability of USDC transactions on the blockchain, strengthening its role in stablecoin-powered applications.