Chainlink CCIP EVM Contracts: Architecture from Source Code
EVM chains are isolated by design. A contract on Arbitrum has no native way to call a contract on Base, and sending USDC from Ethereum Mainnet to Polygon is not a built-in operation. Cross-chain bridges filled that gap for years, but the category has seen repeated security incidents that highlight how wide the attack surface is.
Read MoreCircle CCTP V2 EVM Contracts: A Source-Code Walkthrough
Moving USDC across blockchains comes down to two designs. Lock-and-mint freezes the original token on the source chain and issues a wrapped version elsewhere, concentrating a large TVL target inside a single smart contract. Burn-and-mint does the opposite: the source chain burns the original, and a trusted authority mints an equal amount on the destination. No lockbox, no wrapped variant.
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