Circle has introduced the Bridged USDC Standard with two primary goals: to enhance access to USDC and reduce fragmentation. Currently, USDC is operational on 15 blockchains, with the potential for additional networks to join in the future. The aim is to address the cold start issue, ensuring essential requirements are met from the outset.

There's a distinction between Native USDC and Bridged USDC, with Native USDC being more recognized as it's issued by Circle, a regulated Fintech entity. Conversely, Bridged USDC is created by a third party, which may raise concerns.

Circle addresses this by allowing developers to deploy Bridged USDC on EVM blockchains, with an option to transition to Native USDC in the future.

The process begins with a third-party team deploying the Bridged USDC token contract to bootstrap initial liquidity. Once certain thresholds are met, Circle collaborates with third parties to securely transfer ownership of Bridged USDC to Circle, which bridges it to Native USDC, ensuring no changes to the number of holders, supply, or application integrations.

This seamless transition benefits users, blockchains, and developers, eliminating the need for asset conversion and avoiding the complexities of liquidity migration. At present, the product is being tested at Scroll and Linea, with successful execution on the testnet.

It's crucial to note that ownership of the token contract under the Bridged USDC Standard is optional for Circle and subject to terms and conditions. The original contract deployment can only be upgraded to the Bridged USDC Standard if all technical requirements are met.

Looking ahead, Circle aims to integrate the Bridged USDC Standard widely into Rollup as a Service (RaaS), making it easier for new blockchains to deploy the token contract.