A rather large deal that directly impacts the cross-chain sector has just been announced.
Circle has officially acquired Interop Labs, including the entire team behind Axelar and all related intellectual property (IP). In my opinion, this action shows that Circle wants to gain deeper control over the interoperability infrastructure rather than just playing the role of stablecoin issuer as before.
Axelar is considered one of the cross-chain networks with high security and integration levels, particularly strong in connecting major chains and the DeFi ecosystem. Circle bringing Axelar under its wing indicates that interoperability is becoming a strategic infrastructure, especially as stablecoins, tokenized assets, and TradFi-on-chain products increasingly need to move smoothly across multiple blockchains.
From a strategic standpoint, this deal shows that Circle is not only issuing USDC but is also building the rails for USDC and other assets to move cross-chain safely.
Axelar will become the default connectivity layer for Circle's financial products in the future. Interop Labs and the Axelar team continue to develop technology but with clearer resources and direction from Circle.
With $AXL the technology and team acquired by Circle could help Axelar be more deeply integrated into real-world applications, especially in the stablecoin and asset tokenization sectors.
However, anyone holding tokens needs to closely monitor how Circle handles tokenomics and the role of $AXL in the new structure after this deal.
