Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, has entered into an agreement to acquire the team and proprietary intellectual property of Interop Labs, a key contributor to the Axelar Network. The acquisition is expected to close in early 2026. This strategic move aims to bolster Circle's cross-chain infrastructure capabilities and accelerate its vision for seamless interoperability within its Arc platform and Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP).

Interop Labs has been instrumental in developing Axelar, a network known for secure cross-chain messaging and token transfers. By integrating the Interop Labs team, including CEO and co-founder Sergey Gorbunov, Circle aims to expedite key initiatives related to Arc, its open Layer 1 blockchain designed as an economic operating system for the internet, and CCTP.

A key point of clarification is that the acquisition solely involves the Interop Labs team and its proprietary IP. The Axelar Network, Foundation, and its native AXL token will continue to operate independently, governed by its community, and its open-source intellectual property will remain open source. Common Prefix, another significant contributor to the Axelar project, will assume many of Interop Labs' previous responsibilities within the Axelar ecosystem.

Circle's acquisition of Interop Labs is a calculated step to enhance the utility and reach of USDC. While USDC is already available on multiple blockchains, the process of moving it between these chains has often been complex. By bringing the Interop Labs team in-house, Circle gains expertise in cross-chain communication, directly addressing the challenge of blockchain fragmentation. This allows Circle to integrate and improve the technology that enables different blockchains to communicate securely.

The acquisition should allow Circle to make digital assets issued on Arc interoperable across numerous blockchain networks. Circle's long-term vision is to enable digital assets to be issued easily and move securely across over 100 blockchain ecosystems.

The integration of Interop Labs engineers provides Circle with direct access to a team experienced in writing interoperability code for chain-to-chain messaging. Axelar's core technology for cross-chain messaging, routing, and asset movement will remain community-driven. This separation of proprietary technology from Axelar's open-source stack allows both Circle and Axelar to foster collaboration while minimizing friction within their respective developer ecosystems.