Circle Taps Axelar’s Core Developers in Push to Expand Crosschain Capabilities

Stablecoin giant Circle has agreed to acquire the engineering team and proprietary technology from Interop Labs, a company closely associated with the early development of Axelar, as it pushes to make its products work more seamlessly across blockchains. The deal is expected to close in early 2026.

Interop Labs was the initial developer behind Axelar, a network used for cross-chain messaging and token transfers. Circle said Interop’s engineers and intellectual property will be absorbed into its work on Arc, Circle’s enterprise blockchain, and its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), which moves USDC and other assets between blockchains without relying on custodians or traditional token bridges.

Circle framed the acquisition as a way to strengthen interoperability, particularly for digital assets issued on Arc, by improving how those assets can be transferred and used across multiple networks. 

Interop Labs CEO and co-founder Sergey Gorbunov is expected to join Circle after the transaction closes.

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We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built with Axelar and excited to see our team and technology become a core part of Circle’s interoperability strategy. Together, we will lay the groundwork for the next era of crosschain finance. Axelar continues as an open-source innovator, and we are working closely with the Common Prefix team to ensure continuity and long-term support.

Sergey Gorbunov, CEO and co-founder of Interop Labs

Circle emphasised that it is not buying the Axelar network itself. Axelar will continue operating as a community-governed, open-source project. 

The responsibility for development will move from Interop Labs to Common Prefix, another contributor. Circle said the IP it is acquiring is limited to Interop Labs’ proprietary technology and excludes Axelar’s open-source codebase, which will be transitioned to Common Prefix.

Earlier this year, the Axelar Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the network’s growth, disclosed it had sold US$30 million (AU$45.9 million) worth of AXL tokens.

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