The Stablecoin Bridge Problem: From Fragmentation to Unity

Stablecoins are the new power players in crypto. They settle trillions in value, ride on every major chain, and serve everyone from remittance senders to corporate treasuries. Yet the moment you try to move a stablecoin across chains, things get confusing. Different token contracts, wrapped variants, odd fees, security worries, and inconsistent experiences.

In a multichain world, the stablecoin bridge experience still feels like switching airports mid-flight. In this blog post, we map out the stablecoin landscape, explain the interoperability problem and why it matters, and explore how the space is evolving toward a unified, seamless experience that finally makes money feel effortless.

Stablecoins used to be a niche topic. Today, they are the backbone of digital value transfer, powering everything from DeFi markets to real-world payments.

In the past year alone, stablecoin settlement volumes exceding $27 trillion, surpassing the combined annual volume of PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard. They’re now the primary settlement layer for crypto with the wider digital economy on its way.

Let’s look at how these tokens work, who issues them, and where they live.

Over 30% of all crypto transactions involve stablecoins. More than $300 billion are in circulation across major networks as of Q4 2025, with daily transfers exceeding $100 billion. They work like digital dollars: instant, global, and low-cost.

The market is still dominated by two issuers that together account for over 75% of all stablecoins in circulation:

Decentralized alternatives like Maker’s USDS (formerly DAI) and Ethena’s USDe are growing fast, with $5–10 billion each in circulation. Many more continue to come to market as well. Together, stablecoins now represent roughly one-third of all crypto market liquidity.

Meanwhile, regulation is catching up. Clearer reserve standards and mandatory disclosures are improving trust, while frameworks such as MiCA in Europe and the GENIUS Act in the U.S. define what counts as a compliant payment stablecoin.

Stablecoins have moved far beyond trading pairs and DeFi yield farms. They’re now used globally for savings, payments, and commerce.

According to a16z’s State of Crypto 2025 report, stablecoins now account for more than 50% of all onchain transaction volume, with monthly transfers exceeding $1.6 trillion. This is a six-fold increase since 2020.

Other examples of how stablecoins serve tangible human and business needs include:

Stablecoins are quickly becoming the internet’s native form of money.

Stablecoins are spread across multiple blockchains. The majority of supply and activity is concentrated on a handful of networks, each serving a distinct type of user.

Below is a snapshot of the largest chains by circulating stablecoin supply as of late 2025:

(All values approximate; sourced from DefiLlama Stablecoins by Chain, October 2025.)

Key Observations:

Stablecoin liquidity is more distributed than ever, but also increasingly fragmented. Each of these networks hosts different versions of the same assets, creating interoperability challenges at both the user and protocol level. This fragmentation is precisely where the interoperability problem begins.

If you’ve ever tried moving stablecoins across chains, fragmentation is impossible to ignore. The same stablecoin might have separate versions on different networks, each with its own liquidity pools and risks. Understanding this fragmentation shows why interoperability is not a luxury but a necessity.

Multiple token contracts for what appears to be the same asset create confusion and capital inefficiency. Liquidity is split, composability breaks, and you must trust various intermediaries to move funds safely.

If you’ve ever tried to move funds between networks, you’ve probably felt the friction firsthand. What should be a simple transfer often turns into a maze of token lists, wallet prompts, and bridge warnings. The obstacles are clear:

When stablecoins can move freely across chains as a single, unified asset, the ecosystem begins to behave like one economy. Interoperability simplifies your experience, strengthens security, and enables seamless global liquidity that benefits everyone.

A stablecoin bridge is the infrastructure that lets you transfer tokens between blockchains. Early solutions made this possible but at the cost of complexity and risk. Here’s how each model works and why the industry is evolving beyond them.

The fastest, most cost-efficient way to bridge stablecoins. Intent-based bridges use third-party relayer networks that compete to execute crosschain transfers as quickly and cheaply as possible on behalf of users.

A newer and cleaner model than Lock and Mint. Your stablecoin is burned on the source chain and minted on the destination chain by the official issuer.

You swap stablecoins on the source chain into a pool that pays out the same brand of stablecoin on the destination chain.

You deposit stablecoins on the source chain, and the bridge mints a wrapped version on the destination chain.

Each type of bridge provides a simple, native experience that hides the complexity of multiple blockchains.

Bridging technology has evolved through several major stages. Each step solved one part of the problem, but none delivered a fully unified experience… Until intents came along.

Early bridges used lock-and-mint or pool-based models, which introduced wrapped tokens and liquidity silos. Native burn-and-mint protocols like Circle’s CCTP and Maker’s USDS with Wormhole NTT fixed that at the asset level. They allow stablecoins to move as a single, canonical token across chains, burning on one side, mint on the other.

This was a major leap forward for security and capital efficiency, but it didn’t fully solve the end-user experience. Native bridges handle the technical movement of value, not the decision-making around how to move it, when, and by which route.

This is where intent-based systems step in. Intents describe what the user wants to achieve, leaving it to the network to determine how to achieve it best. Instead of manually selecting a bridge or comparing routes, you simply declare an intent — like “send USDC from Arbitrum to Base” — and the system handles execution through the most efficient native bridge or swap path available.

In this model, native bridges become inputs, and intent layers become the orchestrator. Together, they turn a once-fragmented ecosystem into something that feels like one unified network.

Native bridging protocols unify liquidity at the asset layer. Intent-based systems unify it at the experience layer. Together, they form the logical endgame for crosschain movement: secure, capital-efficient, and invisible to you as the user.

This is exactly where Across comes in. Across delivers on the promise of true interoperability by abstracting away every layer of friction so you can effortlessly move stablecoins across chains. You don’t need to think about bridge routes, token variants, or settlement times. Across turns crosschain transfers into a single seamless action that's fast, cheap, and secure.

But before we look at how that works, let’s recall the pain points described earlier: slow and clunky processes, security risks, confusing token versions, and fragmented liquidity management. Across eliminates all of these.

Across Protocol is the pioneer of crosschain intents. Its system interprets what you want to do, not just where you want to send funds. It determines the optimal route, timing, and method, using native bridges such as CCTP for larger transactions. The heavy lifting happens under the hood, so you simply get to enjoy your stablecoins wherever you want them.

With Across, bridging stablecoins feels instant and effortless. Transfers settle in seconds, cost cents, and arrive securely without the delays or risks common in other systems. You don’t have to think about routes, relayers, or bridge selection. Across abstracts away the complexity so moving stablecoins across chains feels as seamless as sending them on a single network.

As a developer, you can integrate Across to power native stablecoin bridging and crosschain actions within your application. This unlocks opportunities to reach and serve new users and liquidity across all the chains that Across supports.

Across provides the coordination layer that makes stablecoin interoperability practical and invisible.

Stablecoins proved that programmable dollars can operate at global scale. The next leap is making them move as freely as they exist. Native burn-and-mint protocols are fixing the technical foundation, while intent-based interoperability layers like Across deliver the experience that makes it feel seamless.

When you move money, you shouldn’t have to think about bridges. You should just see the results. That’s where the stablecoin ecosystem is heading, and that’s the reality Across is building toward.

– > Bridge stablecoins with Across today!

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