Stablecoin issuer Circle has signed an agreement to acquire the Interop Labs team and its proprietary technology, integrating a core contributor to the Axelar network into its infrastructure business.
The deal, expected to close in early 2026, covers personnel and proprietary intellectual property of Interop Labs, while the Axelar network, its foundation and the AXL token will remain independent and governed by the community.
Interop Labs is the initial developer of the Axelar Network, a decentralized interoperability network that supports crosschain messaging and cross-blockchain asset transfers. Circle said the team’s technology will be integrated with the Arc blockchain and Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP).
Another Axelar contributor, Common Prefix, will take over previous development responsibilities from Interop Labs to maintain continuity on the open source network.
According to Circle, the acquisition is expected to accelerate the interoperability of assets issued on Arc, improve development tools for multi-chain applications, and support the development of products built by Circle. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Circle issues USDC (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, accounting for approximately 25% of the $310 billion global stablecoin market, according to data from DefiLlama.
In January, Circle acquired Hashnotethe issuer of the tokenized money market fund US Yield Coin, integrating one of the largest yield-generating real-world asset products into its stablecoin and infrastructure businesses.
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Stablecoin issuers make acquisitions in 2025
Stablecoin issuers have increasingly resorted to acquisitions in 2025 to expand their businesses.
In November, Paxos acquired institutional crypto wallet provider Fordefi in a deal valued at more than $100 million, according to Fortune. Paxos, the issuer of Pax Dollar (USDP) and PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin, said the acquisition strengthens its custody and transaction infrastructure for stablecoin issuance, asset tokenization and on-chain payments.
Tether, the dominant stablecoin issuer behind USDt (USDT), used its balance sheet to acquire minority stakes and strategic positions in traditional asset businesses.
In June, he acquired a stake of approximately 32% in Canadian-listed gold royalty company Elemental Altus Royalties for approximately $89 million. In November, Tether Investments acquired a minority stake bet in precious metals company Versamet Royalties, purchasing approximately 11.8 million shares of common stock in a private agreement with an existing shareholder.
Tether attempted to move beyond finance to sports, submitting a binding all-cash offer on Dec. 12 to acquire Exor’s 65.4% majority stake in Italian football club Juventusan offer that the Agnelli family holding company later told its board of directors unanimously rejected.
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