Circle Acquires Axelar's Interop Labs and Its Intellectual Property

Key Highlights

Circle acquired the team and intellectual property of Interop Labs, a key contributor to the Axelar Network.
The move aims to strengthen Circle’s cross-chain strategy for digital asset movement.
The acquisition is expected to speed up development for Circle’s CCTP and its Arc platform.

Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire the core team and proprietary intellectual property (IP) from Interop Labs to support the development of its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) and Arc blockchain.

The deal, which excludes Axelar Foundation and its native AXL token, is anticipated to close in early 2026. The move aims to improve Circle’s infrastructure so that digital assets can be transferred safely and easily between different blockchain ecosystems.

We’ve entered into an agreement for the Interop Labs team and IP to join @circle and accelerate the next phase of cross-chain infrastructure.
This does not include the Axelar Foundation or AXL token, these both remain independent, open-source and community governed.…
— interop_labs (@interop_labs) December 15, 2025

Interop Labs’ role in Axelar

According to the report, Circle said its goal is to build a future where digital assets are compliantly and easily transferred across more than 100 blockchain networks, requiring robust foundational infrastructure for frictionless settlement.

Axelar, which offers a framework for safe cross-chain messaging and token transfer, has been greatly influenced by Interop Labs. Because of this partnership, Interop Labs became a major force in the web3 interoperability market.

“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,” said Sergey Gorbunov, CEO and co-founder of Interop Labs. “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.”

Expected acceleration of Circle initiatives

As per the Axelar team, the integration of Interop Labs’ resources into Circle is designed to accelerate several key initiatives. It will boost the company’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol and its enterprise-grade L1 blockchain, Arc, which is being positioned as an “Economic OS for the internet.”

“Our goal is to make blockchain connectivity seamless, and bringing the Interop Labs team into Circle will accelerate the Arc and CCTP roadmaps toward building the hub for multichain internet finance,” said Nikhil Chandhok, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Circle. “Circle is committed to supporting interoperability with many onchain networks, just as we have with USDC, CCTP, Gateway, and other blockchain infrastructure products from Circle.”

Continuity of Axelar Network

The transaction is limited to the Interop Labs team and its proprietary intellectual property. The Axelar Network, the Axelar Foundation, and the AXL token will continue to operate independently under community governance. Common Prefix, another Axelar project contributor, will take over Interop Labs’ previous operations, and all open-source intellectual property will stay open source.

The acquisition marks a major investment by Circle to control and advance core interoperability technology. By bringing the creators of key Axelar components in-house, Circle is positioning itself to build out a seamless and scalable infrastructure for its products, particularly USDC and the Arc blockchain, while maintaining a commitment to broader ecosystem connectivity.