Circle has expanded its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) on Arc to include native EURC and cirBTC transfers, while Gateway remains limited to USDC ahead of a planned multi-asset expansion.
CCTP currently supports EURC transfers across Arc, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum and World Chain. cirBTC transfers are live between Arc and Ethereum, although Circle says Gateway support for both assets is still “coming soon” and has not set a launch date.
Circle’s 23 September update said Interop on Arc had gone live with CCTP, Gateway and Forwarding Service integrated into the Layer 1. The products are designed for different uses: native Circle-issued assets, third-party tokens, new multichain assets and unified balances.
CCTP uses a burn-and-mint model, destroying supported tokens on the source chain and creating native tokens on the destination chain at a 1:1 ratio. This avoids the liquidity pools often used by traditional bridges. The protocol originally focused on USDC, but Circle added EURC on 2 September, initially between Ethereum and Base, before extending support to Arc, Avalanche and World Chain.
The protocol now also covers Circle Wrapped Bitcoin, or cirBTC, between Arc and Ethereum. Circle introduced cirBTC on Arc on 21 September and says each token is backed 1:1 by native BTC held for holders, with reserves available for onchain verification. The asset is issued by Circle International Bermuda Limited, which holds a Class F Digital Asset Business licence from the Bermuda Monetary Authority.
Circle has also enabled Bitcoin-backed USDC borrowing through cirBTC on Arc and Ethereum. Eligible Circle Mint institutions can use cirBTC as collateral on third-party lending markets, with Morpho the first supported protocol.
USDC remains the asset with the widest CCTP coverage. Circle says Fast Transfer can complete supported Arc transactions in “sub-10-second” times, although fees and timings depend on the chain, route and network conditions. Arc routes receive preferential pricing, but no single fee applies to USDC, EURC and cirBTC.
Forwarding Service can submit the destination-chain transaction after the transfer, meaning users do not need to hold the destination network’s gas token for supported transactions. An update earlier in September also allowed developers to quote and collect certain fees on the source network and show recipients the amount they will receive before execution.
Gateway currently combines USDC balances held on Arc and Ethereum into a unified balance. Circle describes it as non-custodial infrastructure that does not hold, control or transfer customer assets, and says it has not been reviewed or approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services or another regulator.
Circle said in an April roadmap that CCTP had processed more than $140bn in USDC transfers across more than 20 chains, with EURC and cirBTC planned for future versions.
Interop on Arc also supports third-party assets through wrapping and its Crosschain Token Standard (CTS), which offers tools including allowlists, transfer limits, pausing, upgrades and governance controls. Issuers remain responsible for their contracts and obligations. Bridge Kit packages these options into an SDK, while Arc Studio provides an AI-assisted development environment.
Arc launched publicly on 16 September with USDC used for gas, deterministic sub-second finality and institutional validators. Circle said more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders and more than 100 applications were involved at launch. Founding validators include BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, Visa and Worldpay.
cirBTC arrived on 21 September, StableFX on 22 September and Interop on 23 September. Circle also minted a 10bn ARC genesis supply before launch and is exploring a move from Proof of Authority to Proof of Stake in 2027, while stressing that the mint is not a commitment to publicly launch the ARC token.
