🌎 Circle Rolls Out Native USDC on Layer 2 Blockchain Linea

Circle, the issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin by market cap, USDC, is set to roll out the first seamless bridged-to-native USDC upgrade on layer 2 blockchain Linea.

Upgrading from Bridged to Native USDC

According to Circle’s announcement on March 5, Linea, a zero-knowledge powered Ethereum layer 2, will be the first blockchain to witness the USDC upgrade. The move will transition the blockchain from a bridged version of USDC to a native version.

Circle introduced the Bridged USD Standard in November 2023, which has since become one of the most bridged assets within the crypto ecosystem. New blockchains often deploy the bridged version of the stablecoin, currently valued at $56 billion, in their testnet or mainnet environment.

Benefits of Native USDC

The upgrade will offer the security of being fully reserved and redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars. This means that users will have access to faster and more secure transactions. As Linea noted, “We’re making history with Circle by being the first to upgrade from bridged to native USDC with zero disruption.”

The upgrade will also see a bridging pause for USDC.e on March 16, 2025. However, USDC.e will remain usable in on-chain activities such as trading, spending, and swapping.

Access to Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol

Support for native USDC on Linea also means access to Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP). Circle will add CCTP V2 support for Linea after the native USDC launch, connecting it to Ethereum, Avalanche, and Base for cross-chain transfers.

Linea’s Growth and Use Cases

Launched by Consensys, Linea has seen notable growth since its mainnet went live in July 2023. The number of decentralized applications on the network has surpassed 400, with more than $250 million in transactions.

Use cases seeing significant growth include: