Payments
What is CCTP?
Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol
CCTP is Circle's protocol for moving USDC between blockchains by burning it on the source chain and minting it on the destination. Because no wrapped token or bridge custody is involved, the USDC that arrives is natively issued rather than a claim on a locked balance.
Conventional bridges lock tokens on one chain and mint a representation on another, which concentrates value in the lock-up contract and makes it a standing target — the pattern behind several of the largest exploits in the sector. Burn-and-mint removes that pool: there is nothing locked to steal.
The trust assumption moves rather than vanishing. Attestation that a burn occurred is issued by the protocol operator, so the model is trust in the issuer instead of trust in a bridge contract. That is a different risk, and for most treasury use a smaller one, but it is not the absence of risk.
Related
Definitions are educational and general. Nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice, and regulatory descriptions summarise frameworks that change — check the current rules for your jurisdiction before relying on them.