Native USDC is coming to Linea with the industry’s first bridged-to-native upgrade

We're excited to announce that Linea will be the first blockchain to have its Bridged USDC Standard implementation upgraded to native USDC by Circle. Linea will also gain support for CCTP V2 following its upcoming mainnet launch.

Linea is a zkEVM Layer-2 blockchain powered by Consensys, built to scale Ethereum while preserving its security and decentralization. Launched in July 2023, Linea has rapidly established itself with over $183M in Total Value Locked (TVL) across 400+ apps and 250M transactions processed, making it the largest zkEVM blockchain by total value secured (excluding associated tokens). Linea enables developers to build onchain apps for a variety of use cases, including DeFi, NFTs, gaming, digital identity, payments, and more.

With this upcoming launch, Linea will be the first blockchain to receive a seamless upgrade from bridged USDC to native USDC, no action needed by developers or users. Linea will also be the first blockchain to gain support for CCTP V2 after its upcoming mainnet launch on Avalanche, Base, and Ethereum. With no need to lock up liquidity, CCTP V2’s burn-and-mint process enables secure and capital-efficient USDC transfers across blockchains with faster-than-finality settlement and enhanced smart contract composability for post-transfer actions.

Enhancing Liquidity and Utility: The Shift to Native USDC on Linea

As one of the first blockchains to adopt Bridged USDC Standard, Linea showcased its benefits early on—reducing liquidity fragmentation by establishing a single, unified form of bridged USDC for the ecosystem to build around. With more than $19M in bridged USDC representing more than 71% of its stablecoin circulation, Bridged USDC Standard played a vital role in jumpstarting activity in the Linea ecosystem.

The upgrade to native USDC will offer significant benefits to Linea developers, apps, and users by enabling a seamless transition without the need for ecosystem education or liquidity migration incentives. After the upgrade, bridged USDC (USDC.e) on Linea will automatically convert to native USDC (USDC), requiring no code changes or asset swaps for apps or holders.

Key Benefits of Native USDC and CCTP V2

• Regulated, fully reserved, and redeemable 1:1 for US dollars¹
• Institutional on/off-ramps with Circle Mint for eligible businesses¹
• Easy integration into new and existing apps
• Fast, secure, and frictionless cross-chain experiences

How the Upgrade Will Happen

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the upgrade process that is expected to take 1-2 weeks to complete: 

1. Bridging Pause (March 16): Linea will pause bridging activity for bridged USDC (USDC.e) on its canonical bridge between Ethereum and Linea while settling any pending transactions. Other bridge routes will remain unaffected.
2. Ownership Transfer and Upgrade: Linea will transfer ownership of the bridged USDC contract to Circle, enabling the upgrade to native USDC.
3. CCTP V2 is Live: Circle will deploy CCTP V2 on Linea, connecting the blockchain to Avalanche, Base, and Ethereum for seamless USDC cross-chain transfers.

Important Details About the Upgrade Process

• During this period, bridged USDC (USDC.e) on Linea will remain fully usable for trading, spending, and swapping. Users can swap USDC.e for any supported asset and also bridge to other blockchains using 3rd-party bridging providers.
• The existing bridged USDC mainnet address on Linea will remain the same following the upgrade to native USDC, it will simply be renamed:
  
  • Token Name: USDC
  • Token Symbol: USDC
  • Mainnet Address: 0x176211869ca2b568f2a7d4ee941e073a821ee1ff

Stay tuned for launch

We’re thrilled for the impact this upgrade will have on the Linea ecosystem. More details to come. Feel free to reach out on Discord and engage with our team if you have any questions.

^{1.  A full list of Circle’s licenses can be found here. Circle Mint enables institutional liquidity providers and qualified businesses to redeem USDC 1:1 for USD. Developers and users can use digital wallets and exchanges to convert between USDC and local currency.}

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