Circle Expands USDC to Morph and Cardano
Circle is expanding its stablecoin's reach, announcing the planned launch of native USDC and its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) on the L2 network Morph. Separately, a wrapped version called USDCx is now live on Cardano, broadening USDC's interoperability across major ecosystems.
Morph is an Ethereum Layer 2 network that utilizes a hybrid rollup approach, combining optimistic and zero-knowledge (zk) technologies to enhance scalability and security. Founded in 2023 by a former CEO of the Phemex crypto exchange, the project has raised over $25 million from investors including Dragonfly Capital and Pantera Capital. Its architecture features a decentralized sequencer to mitigate MEV and censorship risks. Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) facilitates native USDC transfers across different blockchains by burning the token on the source chain and minting an equivalent amount on the destination chain. This "burn-and-mint" mechanism avoids the risks associated with wrapped tokens and fragmented liquidity pools. The protocol is designed to be a foundational layer for developers to build cross-chain applications, including DeFi, payments, and gaming. The USDCx launching on Cardano is not a native version but a wrapped token backed 1:1 by USDC held in Circle's xReserve infrastructure. This model is specifically designed for non-EVM chains like Cardano, providing access to USDC liquidity without a native issuance. Ahead of the mainnet launch, 14 million USDCx were minted on the Cardano network. This expansion provides a significant liquidity bridge for Cardano's DeFi ecosystem, which has historically relied on algorithmic stablecoins like Djed and other wrapped assets. Access to a Circle-backed stablecoin is seen as a critical step for attracting institutional participation and enabling more robust lending, trading, and derivatives markets on the network. The total circulating supply of USDC reached $75.3 billion by late 2025, with Circle reporting $11.9 trillion in cumulative on-chain transaction volume for the year. This expansion onto Morph and Cardano extends USDC's presence, which is already native on 16 blockchains, including Arbitrum, Solana, and Polygon PoS.
