OP Mainnet USDC is now live! We’re announcing that USDC is now available natively on OP Mainnet and accessible to all developers and users – no bridging required. Circle Account and Circle APIs now fully support OP Mainnet USDC, making it easy to access USDC liquidity and benefit from OP Mainnet’s fast and efficient network.
About OP Mainnet
OP Mainnet is a layer 2 (L2) scaling solution for Ethereum, designed to increase transaction throughput and streamline costs. OP Mainnet uses optimistic rollup technology, which bundles together transactions to boost efficiency while leveraging the underlying security of Ethereum.1
OP Mainnet’s developer ecosystem continues to expand. As of September 2023, OP Mainnet's ecosystem includes 180+ dApps and is growing rapidly.2 Businesses looking for faster settlement times and low cost transactions can now choose OP Mainnet USDC for trading, borrowing, lending, and cross-border payments – making it easy to serve customers around the world.
Understanding native vs. bridged
Circle brings USDC natively to new blockchain networks to empower developers to build on a stable foundation they can trust. Native USDC is officially issued by Circle and is always redeemable 1:1 for US dollars.
In the case of OP Mainnet, there also exists a “bridged” form of USDC known as USDC.e, which is USDC that has been bridged from Ethereum. Bridged USDC (USDC.e) is not issued by Circle and is not compatible with Circle Account or Circle APIs.
Bridged USDC from Ethereum
- Token Symbol: USDC.e
- Token Address: 0x7f5c764cbc14f9669b88837ca1490cca17c31607
Native USDC issued by Circle
- Token Symbol: USDC
- Token Address: 0x0b2C639c533813f4Aa9D7837CAf62653d097Ff85
(Note: Please do not attempt to send bridged USDC.e on OP Mainnet to your Circle Account, as it may not be recoverable and could result in a loss of funds.)
The Optimism Foundation will be working with ecosystem participants to help facilitate the migration from bridged USDC.e to native USDC.
Powering new use cases
Exchanges, digital wallets, institutional traders, and developers can access OP Mainnet USDC via the Circle Account and Circle APIs for a number of use cases:
- Making low cost payments and remittances globally that can settle in seconds
- 24/7 trading, borrowing and lending on apps like Coinbase, OKX, Uniswap, and Velodrome
- Enable users to hold savings in digital dollars without needing a traditional bank account
Get started today
Businesses can readily access on/off-ramps for converting fiat currency to OP Mainnet USDC by applying for a Circle Account.
Developers can start building with OP Mainnet USDC with our developer docs – USDC is an open-source, permissionless protocol that anyone can build on.
1 “Rollup Protocol”, OP Mainnet Docs, https://community.optimism.io/docs/protocol/2-rollup-protocol/, (Last accessed September 1, 2023)
2 https://defillama.com/chains (Last accessed September 1, 2023)
