Stablecoin issuer Circle says the dollar-pegged USDC is now available natively on layer-2 Ethereum (ETH) scaling protocol zkSync.
In a series of posts on social media platform X, zkSync says that, unlike the USDC that was previously bridged on its platform, native USDC is different.
“It’s backed by Circle with additional benefits:
Regulated, fully reserved, and always redeemable 1:1 for US dollars
Institutional customers can mint and redeem USDC through Circle Mint https://circle.com/en/circle-mint
Easy integration into existing apps.”
zkSync says the native USDC will be labeled USDC while the existing bridged USDC will be renamed as USDC.e on block explorers, a decentralized application (dApp) interface and bridge.
“Over time, native USDC will replace the currently circulating supply of USDC.e. To do that, users and institutions can swap from USDC.e to USDC on their preferred DEX (decentralized exchange).”
Third-party bridges and centralized exchanges will support USDC deposits and withdrawals, but the native zkSync bridge will only support USDC and USDC.e withdrawals.
With the development, Circle says that USDC is now supported on 16 blockchain networks.
The financial technology firm says it expects many leading ecosystem apps and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to support native USDC on zkSync for payments, trading and lending, including automated market maker (AMM) exchange Koi Finance, lending platform ZeroLend and the decentralized exchange SyncSwap.
“Businesses and institutions can access on/off-ramps for USDC on zkSync with Circle Mint and its APIs. Circle Mint also makes it easy to deposit USDC from one supported chain and withdraw USDC on another – avoiding the costs and delays of third-party bridging.”
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