Axelar Bridged USDC (Osmosis)Price

(USDC.ETH.AXL)

Axelar Bridged USDC (Osmosis), also known as axlUSDC or usdc.eth.axl, is a wrapped, multi-chain representation of USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar and issued by Circle. For every axlUSDC, there's an equivalent unit of native USDC locked in an Axelar Gateway on the Ethereum blockchain. It functions as the official USDC representation on Osmosis and other Cosmos chains, facilitating the stablecoin's movement across diverse blockchain networks.

Native USDC is primarily on Ethereum. To extend its utility and liquidity to other ecosystems like Cosmos (where Osmosis operates), a bridged version like axlUSDC is essential. The core difference is that axlUSDC is a "wrapped" asset; it's a synthetic token created on one blockchain, backed by an equivalent amount of the original asset held on another chain, all facilitated by the Axelar network. This mechanism allows USDC to achieve interoperability across various blockchain platforms.

Similar to all Axelar-wrapped assets, axlUSDC's security is upheld by a dynamic validator set that operates using delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS). This validator set employs multi-party cryptography to hold key shares within the Axelar Gateways, which ultimately secures the cross-chain communication and integrity of the bridged assets.

Users can acquire axlUSDC through several methods: swapping via liquid pairs on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), using cross-chain liquidity routers like Squid built on Axelar, or directly minting it via Axelar's cross-chain bridge, Satellite. The general process involves depositing native USDC (often from Ethereum or other EVM chains like Avalanche) into an Axelar Gateway. The Axelar bridge then mints an equivalent amount of axlUSDC on the destination chain, such as Osmosis, after deducting any fees. This typically requires both Keplr and Metamask wallets.

While native USDC is generally considered reliable due to regular audits, the primary additional risk for axlUSDC stems from the bridging mechanism itself. Concerns often arise regarding the Axelar bridge's reliability and security, and the potential for the bridged asset to depeg if the bridge were to fail or be compromised. It's crucial to remember that axlUSDC is a bridged variant and should not be sent directly to centralized exchanges, as it is not tradeable on CEXes in this form.

Once bridged to Osmosis, axlUSDC unlocks a variety of DeFi activities within its ecosystem. Users can deploy it for providing liquidity to trading pools, exchanging it with other digital assets, and engaging in the broader Cosmos interchain economy. This enables the use of a stablecoin within the Cosmos ecosystem, where native USDC was not originally available, expanding its utility for users.