Circle Gateway Expands Native Asset Support

The landscape for cross-chain asset movement is evolving. Circle's cross-chain balance service, Gateway, has introduced a significant upgrade by adding native support for wrapped Bitcoin (cirBTC) and the Euro-pegged stablecoin (EURC). This move broadens its core offering from solely USDC to a trio of major digital assets, providing developers with a single, unified interface to transfer value across supported blockchains.

Independent Balances and Varied Network Access

A key operational detail is that each asset maintains a separate balance within Gateway. Depositing EURC, for instance, does not fund withdrawals of cirBTC, nor does it trigger automatic cross-asset conversions. Moving value between different asset types still requires a distinct exchange process.

Network availability also varies by asset:

  • cirBTC: Accessible only on Arbitrum and Ethereum.
  • EURC: Available on a wider set of networks including Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Solana, and World Chain.
  • USDC: Continues to enjoy its broad cross-chain reach.

Technical Mechanics and Performance Claims

Circle states that once a balance is established within Gateway, cross-chain access latency is under 500 milliseconds. It's important to note that this metric excludes the time required for initial deposits to achieve finality on the source chain.

Under the hood, deposits are held in a non-custodial Gateway Wallet escrow contract. Upon user authorization on a destination chain, an equivalent amount of the same asset is minted there. Gateway also offers an alternative withdrawal path that doesn't rely on its standard APIs, though this method typically incurs a 7-day delay.

New Capabilities and Launch Incentives

Both new assets, cirBTC and EURC, are compatible with Circle's Nanopayments system for batch settlements. However, nanopayments for non-USDC assets (i.e., cirBTC and EURC) are currently restricted to EVM-compatible networks like Ethereum and Arbitrum.

To mark the launch, Circle is offering a promotional period: Gateway fees for transactions involving cirBTC and EURC on the Arbitrum network will be waived. This provides an opportunity for users to test the new functionality at a lower cost.