Circle upgrades USDC cross-chain transfers to V2, gives apps 95 days to migrate

Circle has announced a 95-day deadline for developers to migrate from its legacy Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) V1 to V2, with V1 burn limits decreasing on October 31, 2026, and contracts pausing on December 1, 2026. Meanwhile, Aptos has activated CCTP V2 as of August 26, 2026, upgrading its USDC infrastructure to settle transfers in seconds rather than minutes. This integration connects Aptos to nine other blockchains and introduces programmable hooks for automated, single-flow transactions.

CCTP V1 deprecation timeline

• ▪As of November 14, 2025, Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol had processed more than $110 billion across 5.3 million transfers across both V1 and V2 versions.
• ▪Circle will begin reducing Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V1 burn limits and transfer capacity on October 31, 2026, before pausing the legacy contracts on December 1, 2026.
• ▪Circle will maintain sufficient minting capacity to complete outstanding attestations before Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V1 is fully paused, ensuring users retain access to funds.
• ▪Circle announced a 95-day migration window for developers to transition from Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V1 to V2 before legacy contracts stop processing USDC transfers.

V2 technical integration requirements

• ▪Developers migrating to Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 must replace legacy attestation calls with the /v2/messages/{sourceDomainId} flow.
• ▪Integrating Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 requires developers to point to new contract addresses for TokenMessenger, MessageTransmitter, and TokenMinter.
• ▪The Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 depositForBurn function adds parameters for the permitted destination caller, maximum fee, and minimum finality threshold.

Aptos CCTP V2 activation

• ▪The Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 integration connects Aptos to approximately nine other blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana, via more than 90 transfer routes.
• ▪Aptos activated Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 on August 26, 2026, upgrading its USDC transfer settlement times from minutes to seconds.
• ▪Prior to its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 activation, Aptos was listed alongside Noble and Sui as the only blockchains supported exclusively by CCTP V1.
• ▪Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 utilizes a burn-and-mint mechanism where USDC tokens are burned on the source chain and minted as native USDC directly on the destination chain.

Programmable hooks functionality

• ▪Programmable hooks enable incoming USDC transfers and automated actions to execute in a single transaction flow, eliminating the need for manual secondary transactions.
• ▪Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 features programmable hooks that allow developers to attach automated on-chain actions, such as lending deposits or asset swaps, to incoming USDC transfers.

Aptos native USDC history

• ▪Native USDC launched on the Aptos mainnet on January 30, 2025, whereas the network previously relied on lzUSDC, a bridged version routed through LayerZero.
• ▪Circle launched Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 across supported networks on March 11, 2025, and phased out V1 support starting July 31, 2026.
• ▪At the launch of native USDC on Aptos, more than $120 million in bridged lzUSDC was circulating on the Aptos network.