What does “bridging USDC” actually mean?

Three very different mechanisms, and they leave you holding different things.

Quick answer

"Bridging USDC" can mean three different things. A wrapped (lock-and-mint) bridge locks your USDC and gives you an IOU token on the other chain; a liquidity bridge swaps your USDC for USDC someone else already deposited on the other chain; and Circle's CCTP burns your USDC and has Circle mint the same amount of native USDC on the destination. With CCTP you end up holding native, Circle-issued USDC without relying on a liquidity pool or a third-party token. (Circle also offers other ways to get Circle-issued USDC on another chain, such as Circle Gateway's unified balance.)

Three ways USDC moves between chains

MechanismWhat happensYou end up withMain dependency
Lock-and-mint (wrapped)USDC is locked on chain A; the bridge mints a copy on B.A bridged token (e.g. “USDC.e”)The bridge's contracts, validators or multisig
Liquidity / intent bridgeYou deposit on A; a pool or solver pays you on B.Native USDC, if the pool holds itPool liquidity and settlement; amounts can be limited
Circle CCTP (burn-and-mint)USDC is burned on A; Circle attests and mints on B.Native, Circle-issued USDCCircle's CCTP contracts and attestation

Liquidity bridges can support many more tokens than USDC. For a fuller look, including exchange withdrawals, see the comparison.

How CCTP burn-and-mint works

  1. BurnYour USDC is burned by Circle's CCTP contract on the source chain.
  2. AttestCircle's attestation service signs the burn.
  3. MintThe same amount of native USDC is minted on the destination chain.
  1. Circle attests after soft finality for Fast Transfer, or full finality for a standard transfer.
  2. In a sendstables wallet we sponsor the burn's gas; either way we make sure the mint is submitted, by Circle's Forwarding Service or our relayer. More in the CCTP guide.
USDC
To your wallet after sign-in

Pick a different destination, or send to another address on Base.

You receive—.— USDC
How your money is secured
  • Non-custodial. Funds stay in your own wallet: an embedded wallet secured by Privy, or the wallet you connect. We never hold your keys.
  • Fees fixed at confirm. The price is signed when you confirm; nothing extra is taken later.
  • Native USDC. Circle's CCTP burns USDC on one chain and mints it on the other. No bridges, no wrapped tokens.
  • Every step on-chain. You get explorer links for each transaction and a shareable status page.

Native USDC contract addresses (27 chains)

The native USDC that CCTP mints on each chain. A different address in your wallet means a bridged or wrapped version.

ChainCCTP domainNative USDC token
Base60x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913
Arbitrum30xaf88d065e77c8cc2239327c5edb3a432268e5831
Optimism20x0b2c639c533813f4aa9d7837caf62653d097ff85
Ethereum00xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48
Solana5EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v
Polygon70x3c499c542cef5e3811e1192ce70d8cc03d5c3359
Avalanche10xB97EF9Ef8734C71904D8002F8b6Bc66Dd9c48a6E
Stellar27USDC:GA5ZSEJYB37JRC5AVCIA5MOP4RHTM335X2KGX3IHOJAPP5RE34K4KZVN
Arc260x3600000000000000000000000000000000000000
Codex120xd996633a415985DBd7D6D12f4A4343E31f5037cf
Cronos320x3D7F2C478aAfdB65542BCB44bCeeC05849999d2D
Edge280x98d2919b9A214E6Fa5384AC81E6864bA686Ad74c
HyperEVM190xb88339CB7199b77E23DB6E890353E22632Ba630f
Injective290xa00C59fF5a080D2b954d0c75e46E22a0c371235a
Ink210x2D270e6886d130D724215A266106e6832161EAEd
Linea110x176211869ca2b568f2a7d4ee941e073a821ee1ff
Monad150x754704Bc059F8C67012fEd69BC8A327a5aafb603
Morph300xCfb1186F4e93D60E60a8bDd997427D1F33bc372B
Pharos310xC879C018dB60520F4355C26eD1a6D572cdAC1815
Plasma330x2d661C89D812261039AF9764eceaAee884f5F67F
Plume220x222365EF19F7947e5484218551B56bb3965Aa7aF
Sei160xe15fC38F6D8c56aF07bbCBe3BAf5708A2Bf42392
Sonic130x29219dd400f2Bf60E5a23d13Be72B486D4038894
Unichain100x078D782b760474a361dDA0AF3839290b0EF57AD6
World Chain140x79A02482A880bCE3F13e09Da970dC34db4CD24d1
X Layer370xB6CEceAB302E2E4948951eE7843FC24E92933061
XDC180xfA2958CB79b0491CC627c1557F441eF849Ca8eb1
  1. From the chain registry in Circle's Bridge Kit as of 2026-10-23. Double-check against Circle's official USDC address list before sending large amounts.

FAQ

What is the difference between native USDC and bridged USDC?

Native USDC is issued by Circle directly on a chain and is redeemable 1:1 through Circle. Bridged USDC (often labelled USDC.e or similar) is a token minted by a third-party bridge contract that holds real USDC on another chain; its value depends on that bridge's contracts and operators.

How can I tell if my USDC is native?

Compare the token's contract address with Circle's official list of USDC addresses. The native USDC addresses for every chain sendstables supports are in the table on this page, taken from Circle's own chain registry.

Is CCTP a bridge?

It does the job of a bridge — moving USDC from one chain to another — but nothing is locked or wrapped. USDC is burned on the source chain and Circle mints the same amount on the destination, so the result is always native USDC.

Does a CCTP transfer have slippage?

No. Burn and mint are 1:1, so there's no exchange rate and no pool. You pay fees (shown before you sign), but never slippage.

Is sendstables a USDC bridge?

sendstables is an app that moves native USDC between chains using Circle's CCTP. It doesn't issue tokens or hold a liquidity pool. Our fee is 0.05% service charge (min $0.10, no cap) plus operating costs and margin, gas is sponsored for sendstables wallets, and it is not operated or endorsed by Circle.

Popular USDC routes

Fee schedule →