{
  "schema_version": "protocol.v1",
  "slug": "circle",
  "name": "Circle (USDC & CCTP)",
  "status": "production-ready",
  "website": "https://www.circle.com/usdc",
  "summary": "Regulated US-dollar stablecoin (USDC) plus the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) for native 1:1 USDC transfers across chains via burn-and-mint.",
  "categories": [
    "stablecoins",
    "payments",
    "cross-chain",
    "settlement",
    "defi"
  ],
  "chains": [
    "ethereum",
    "arbitrum-one",
    "base",
    "optimism",
    "polygon",
    "avalanche"
  ],
  "best_for": [
    "stablecoin settlement and payouts",
    "native USDC bridging without wrapped assets",
    "treasury and payment rails",
    "settlement asset for agentic / API payments"
  ],
  "avoid_for": [
    "apps that cannot accept an issuer with freeze/blacklist capability",
    "permissionless, censorship-resistant value transfer",
    "assets requiring algorithmic or non-fiat backing"
  ],
  "integration_difficulty": "low",
  "tags": [
    "usdc",
    "stablecoin",
    "cctp",
    "cross-chain",
    "payments"
  ],
  "composition": [
    {
      "slug": "x402",
      "role": "payments_and_commerce",
      "direction": "supports",
      "relationship": "USDC is the canonical settlement asset for x402 pay-per-request and agent-to-service payments.",
      "best_for": [
        "agentic and API payment settlement"
      ]
    },
    {
      "slug": "safe",
      "role": "operational_controls",
      "direction": "supports",
      "relationship": "A Safe multisig can hold and disburse USDC treasury under policy controls."
    },
    {
      "slug": "uniswap",
      "role": "supporting_protocol",
      "direction": "supports",
      "relationship": "Deep USDC pairs make it a common quote asset for swaps and liquidity routing."
    },
    {
      "slug": "layerzero",
      "role": "interoperability",
      "direction": "alternative",
      "relationship": "CCTP offers native burn-and-mint USDC transfers as an alternative to general-purpose message bridges for moving USDC."
    },
    {
      "slug": "hyperlane",
      "role": "interoperability",
      "direction": "alternative",
      "relationship": "CCTP is the issuer-native path for moving USDC versus generic interchain messaging."
    }
  ],
  "docs": {
    "url": "https://developers.circle.com/cctp",
    "verified_at": "2026-06-16"
  },
  "sdk": {
    "url": "https://github.com/circlefin/evm-cctp-contracts",
    "verified_at": "2026-06-16"
  },
  "template": {
    "url": null
  },
  "support": {
    "url": null
  },
  "grant": {
    "url": null
  },
  "capabilities": [
    {
      "name": "USDC stablecoin",
      "status": "production-ready",
      "type": "ecosystem_primitive",
      "best_for": [
        "fiat-backed onchain settlement",
        "quote/collateral asset across DeFi"
      ],
      "known_issues": [
        "Issuer-controlled: addresses can be frozen/blacklisted; not censorship-resistant."
      ],
      "agent_actions": [
        "recommend_settlement_asset"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "CCTP native cross-chain transfer",
      "status": "production-ready",
      "type": "production_surface",
      "best_for": [
        "native USDC bridging (no wrapped asset)",
        "burn-and-mint 1:1 transfers between supported chains"
      ],
      "known_issues": [
        "Attestation/finality wait between burn and mint varies by source chain."
      ],
      "agent_actions": [
        "generate_cctp_transfer_steps",
        "recommend_usdc_bridge_path"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "known_issues": [],
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "USDC website",
      "url": "https://www.circle.com/usdc",
      "type": "website"
    },
    {
      "label": "CCTP developer docs",
      "url": "https://developers.circle.com/cctp",
      "type": "docs"
    },
    {
      "label": "CCTP EVM contracts (GitHub)",
      "url": "https://github.com/circlefin/evm-cctp-contracts",
      "type": "github"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "verified_at": "2026-06-16",
    "verified_by": "composewith.eth research (circle.com/usdc, developers.circle.com/cctp, and circlefin/evm-cctp-contracts live-verified via WebFetch 2026-06-16)",
    "confidence": "high"
  },
  "readiness_score": 84,
  "readiness_factors": [
    {
      "key": "docs_present",
      "points": 10,
      "max": 10,
      "detail": "Docs URL present"
    },
    {
      "key": "sdk_present",
      "points": 8,
      "max": 8,
      "detail": "SDK URL present"
    },
    {
      "key": "template_present",
      "points": 0,
      "max": 6,
      "detail": "No template"
    },
    {
      "key": "support_present",
      "points": 0,
      "max": 6,
      "detail": "No support channel"
    },
    {
      "key": "capability_depth",
      "points": 16,
      "max": 20,
      "detail": "USDC stablecoin: ecosystem_primitive; CCTP native cross-chain transfer: production_surface"
    },
    {
      "key": "production_capability",
      "points": 15,
      "max": 15,
      "detail": "Has a production-ready capability"
    },
    {
      "key": "provenance_confidence",
      "points": 5,
      "max": 5,
      "detail": "Protocol provenance confidence is high"
    },
    {
      "key": "chain_coverage",
      "points": 10,
      "max": 10,
      "detail": "5 chain(s) (capped at 5)"
    },
    {
      "key": "freshness",
      "points": 10,
      "max": 10,
      "detail": "Last verified 16 day(s) ago"
    },
    {
      "key": "no_open_critical",
      "points": 10,
      "max": 10,
      "detail": "No open critical issues"
    }
  ],
  "readiness_caps": [],
  "scoring_version": "score.v2"
}