Moving stablecoins between networks

On many networks you can find more than one token called USDC or USDT. One is issued by Circle or Tether. Others were created by bridges, such as USDC.e, which some networks received before native USDC arrived.

These versions are not the same asset. Apps and exchanges often accept only one of them, and a bridged version depends on the bridge that made it. The safest choice is the version the issuer itself supports.

Circle, the company behind USDC, runs its own transfer protocol called CCTP. Your USDC is burned on the starting network, Circle signs a confirmation and the same amount of native USDC is created on the destination.

A standard transfer waits until the starting network finalizes the burn, which takes a few minutes on Ethereum. CCTP V2 adds a fast option that does not wait. Many bridges and aggregators use CCTP behind the scenes, so you often use it without seeing its name.

For USDT, the counterpart is USDT0. USDT is locked on Ethereum and USDT0 is created on other networks using LayerZero’s OFT standard. It runs on about 30 networks, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon and Hyperliquid.

TRON and TON still use the original USDT. They are connected through the Legacy Mesh, which routes transfers through a USDT0 pool on Arbitrum. The fee is 0.03% of the amount, paid in USDT, plus network fees. The USDT0 site estimates about four minutes from Ethereum to TON.

Bridges do shut down. The original TON Bridge closed permanently on 1 September 2026, and holders of its wrapped tokens, such as jUSDT, were asked to migrate them before that date.

If you hold a token made by a bridge, follow that bridge’s news. Once it stops, you may not be able to redeem the token for the original asset. Tokens issued directly by Circle or Tether do not have this problem.

A few minutes of checking saves most stablecoin mistakes.