Introducing Cycle Network: a "multi-chain settlement layer" designed to eliminate multi-chain friction.

Author | bms

The content of this article does not represent Wu's views.

Introduction:

When Circle rang the NASDAQ in June 2025, the mass adoption of stablecoins moved away from the "proof of concept" label for the first time and had real capital market coordinates. As Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, said at TOKEN 2049, "We are moving towards a world where the flow of assets is as chainless and borderless as sending emails." Today's multi-chain environment is still like a gateway in the dial-up era: developers patch around to be compatible with chains, and users jump back and forth between wallets, networks, and gas fees. Web3 assets urgently need an infrastructure upgrade similar to cloud-native to Web2 - encapsulating the underlying complexity into a unified abstraction layer, so that application innovation is no longer bound by the boundaries of the chain, and the friction caused by multi-chain to asset issuance and application needs to be completely smoothed out.

1. Why do Web3 assets need a "superconductor" that connects multiple chains?

In the past two years, the explosive growth of Layer 2 and application chains has made on-chain assets seem to "bloom everywhere," but for end users, in the cross-chain financial topology, Web3 assets face not only simple transfer delays but also a set of overlapping systemic issues:

1. Capital Level "Multiple Constraints"

· If institutional liquidity pools want to be synchronously deployed on networks like Ethereum, Berachain, and Sonic, they need to repeatedly go through the cycle of "lock-up → minting → unlocking → re-minting"; each state migration is exposed to gray rhino risks such as reentrancy of bridging contracts, beacon delays, and finality.

· The compliance perspective is sharper: when a stablecoin or securitized asset traverses multiple chains and jurisdictions, it often needs to meet both "source of funds" and "destination of funds" KYC/AML reporting requirements simultaneously. If a company or individual fails to report synchronously, they risk having their assets frozen at best, or facing money laundering charges at worst. In addition, some countries require that overseas on-chain assets be re-entered into the local capital account when they flow back to the domestic market.

2. User Experience and Developers' "Protocol Vision Obscurity"

For the C-side, the four jumps of "transaction signing→ network switching→ gas calculation→ waiting for confirmation" are essentially exposing the internal complexity of the protocol to users. Once cross-chain, it is necessary to additionally recognize information noise such as "mapping token discounts, depth of liquidity on bridges, and oracle timeliness". As a result, the composability of funds is sliced, and the friction rate between chains increases sharply.

In the face of "three-way coupling damping", when calling multi-chain liquidity, developers need to manually deal with the asynchronous compensation of gas fees, the rollback boundary of flash loans, and the depth difference of Merkle Proof. Even with Universal Bridges, keep an eye on Router Rearrangements and Sequencer congestion.

Due to the different security models, there is a paradox of "the shortest logical stack ≠ the lowest trust stack" in the contract invocation path: the seemingly simple exchange of 2 chains is actually elongated into N + 1 potential attack surface.

2. The Path to Reducing Friction for Web3 Assets in the Multi-Chain Era

At present, the industry has formed three ideas around "allowing assets to be issued and used anywhere", and each of them has made moves for different links of friction between chains:

· Everclear focuses on "net intent" — it uses the Netting Solver to offset excess paths locally, helping institutions reduce rebalancing and hedging costs when deploying across multiple networks;

· Particle Network starts from account abstraction, using Universal Account to unify identities, signatures, and authorizations across different chains into a single interface, eliminating the mental burden of users switching wallets and networks back and forth.

· One Balance focuses on real-time Portfolio + lightweight cross-chain exchange, consolidating tokens, LP positions, and NFTs from various chains into a total asset view, with native routing supporting small amount chain swaps. Each of the three has its strengths, yet they all still rely to varying degrees on underlying bridging or decentralized liquidity.

Cycle Network, which has recently entered the public eye, incubated by Yzi Labs and led by Temasek's Vertex Ventures, has chosen to take it one step further: through Verifiable State Aggregation, multi-chain state convergence into a unified security consensus, so that "liquidation finality" and "liquidity depth" converge at the same time, providing an abstract foundation similar to "cloud native" for upper-layer applications. For the above three categories and even more innovations to call freely.

What is Cycle Network?

3.1 Innovative MultiChain Settlement Layer

Cycle Network is a "multi-chain settlement layer" designed to eliminate multi-chain friction. Through its self-developed Verifiable State Aggregation technology and Symbiotic security consensus, it aggregates the states of over 20 networks, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Berachain, and Monad, into a unified settlement interface, allowing users and developers to access cross-chain assets without relying on traditional cross-chain bridges.

3.2 The Core Advantages of Cycle Network

The core advantage of Cycle Network is to "hide" the complex cross-chain process into the underlying protocol: with Verifiable State Aggregation and Rollin/Rollout API, users can complete the transfer of assets within any dApp with a single signature, without having to understand bridges, network switching, or gas tokens, thus eliminating the cognitive and operational barriers of traditional cross-chain.

At the same time, Cycle abstracts ETH, BTC, stablecoins, and even RWA assets on both EVM and non-EVM chains into the same liquidity pool through a unified settlement layer and liquidity routing, achieving free invocation of any asset on any chain, allowing developers to combine multi-chain assets just like calling an API interface.

In simple terms, Cycle is like building a dam at the confluence of multiple rivers — the water flow no longer gets tangled at the source; just lift the gate, and the assets flow downstream.

3.3 Product Deep Analysis: Both B-end and C-end are making efforts

Good news for B-end developers: Quick implementation of Chain Abstract SDK

For developers, Cycle Network has launched the Cycle SDK, which essentially is a set of development tools that encapsulate Verifiable State Aggregation capabilities for easy integration. Developers only need to introduce the Rollin / Rollout module into their contracts or servers to upgrade single-chain applications to truly abstract DApps in ≤ 1 day, without needing to write bridge logic or maintain multiple front-end network switches. The SDK includes automatic liquidity routing, unified gas estimation, and Symbiotic shared security verification, while also opening up Webhook and Subgraph for convenient real-time monitoring and risk control of multi-chain transactions in the backend.

Practical application scenarios and cases:

• Decentralized exchange DEX: Use the aggregated liquidity of the SDK to make cross-ecosystem transactions such as ETH - BNB and BTC - wBERA into the same matching pool; The user's transaction path is the same as the single-chain experience, but it can be automatically split into multi-chain liquidity sources in the background.

• Cross-chain lending platform: Developers can use Rollout to collateralize assets on one chain and borrow stablecoins on another chain, with the value of all collateral and liquidation logic uniformly verified by the Cycle settlement layer → Significantly reduces liquidation delays and price difference risks.

• On-chain games: Game studios only need to integrate the SDK once, allowing players to purchase Bera Chain NFT items with SOL or settle gas fees with USDC. Players perceive this as "direct payment," while the complex multi-chain processes are completed in the background.

The popular "Goose Raising" mini-game application on TikTok: Golden Goose

Golden Goose is the most representative C-end DeFAI application of the Cycle ecosystem: it turns "chain abstraction + gamification" into a practical income entry point, allowing Web 2 users to earn on-chain income with just one click, without the need to switch networks or prepare gas. The platform is divided into Game Mode and Pro Mode: the former wraps income strategies into a goose-raising game, combining an NFT growth system and a circular reinvestment mechanism; the latter integrates structured strategies such as stable yield spreads, LP mining, and lending arbitrage to provide income.

Someone on TikTok described Golden Goose as an "on-chain vending machine" that automatically pays dividends: you only need to cast a "start" button, and the intricate cross-chain gears behind it will quietly operate, packaging the liquidity and strategies on multiple chains into a yield egg, which will roll from the shipping port to you—no need to understand the wallet, no need to switch networks, just collect money. (Premise be aware of risks)

4. Driving On-Chain Assets: Cycle Network's Value Positioning in Stablecoins and RWA

4.1 Why Stablecoins and RWA Have Become Global Focus

· Risk aversion and liquidity demand: With intensified global macro fluctuations, fiat currency inflation and capital controls have created a strong demand in the market for USD-denominated assets that offer on-chain real-time settlement. According to the latest data from Coingecko, the circulating market capitalization of stablecoins has surpassed 250 billion USD.

· Acceleration of asset digitization: Regulatory sandboxes and on-chain settlement pilots are being implemented continuously, with Real-World Assets such as real estate, accounts receivable, and government bonds being regarded as the most certain track for blockchain implementation.

· Cost and transparency advantages: On-chain transfers and settlements have average fees that are an order of magnitude lower than traditional cross-border systems, while programmability provides instant verifiable underlying data for auditing and compliance.

How does the multi-chain settlement mechanism of 4.2 Cycle become the infrastructure for stablecoins and RWAs?

4.3 From Previous "Fringe Experiments" to Specific Application Scenarios

Multi-chain stablecoin clearing gateway: The issuer can mint USDC in Chain A, and map the same amount of assets to Chain B without a bridge through the Cycle settlement layer, and complete the merchant collection with zero slippage. For the user, the payment path is no different from a traditional card payment.

RWA secondary market matching: Assuming that Tokenized government bonds are issued on the OP Stack chain, institutional market makers can manage their positions on the Berachain side and quote on the Arbitrum side, with the underlying net settlement completed by Cycle aggregation, thereby avoiding price difference risks caused by bridging delays.

Cross-border payroll / supply chain settlement: Companies pay salaries in stablecoins in LATAM, and suppliers receive local fiat currency instantly in SEA. Through Cycle’s automatic path optimization and batch netting, it can save over 50% in fees and 1-2 business days in settlement time compared to traditional SWIFT.

4.4 The Long-Term Impact of the Cycle on the Track

Cost curve shifts down: the marginal cost of multi-chain issuance and settlement approaches zero, significantly lowering the issuance threshold for RWA.

Increased liquidity depth: Unified liquidity routing reduces fragmentation, allowing stablecoins and RWAs to serve as collateral or payment mediums on more chains.

Compliance Bridge Improvement: Standardized API and verifiable status proof provide real-time data interfaces for auditing institutions and regulators, accelerating the formation of compliance frameworks.

5. Growth Leverage and Ecological Flywheel: A Business Perspective of Cycle

5.1 Quantitative Opportunities: From "Niche DeFi" to "Trillion-Dollar Real Assets"

· DeFi user base: According to DeFiLlama's 2025 data, there are currently less than 20 million active wallets on-chain across the network; if the multi-chain barrier is completely eliminated, referencing the penetration curve of mobile payments from early trials to widespread adoption, it is not exaggerated to expect an exponential expansion to 100 million - 150 million in five years;

· Stablecoin market: The latest total market capitalization has surpassed USD 250 B; if the annual scale of global cross-border payments is USD 150 T (McKinsey, 2024), even a 1% migration on-chain would result in a USD 1.5 T liquidable flow for the settlement network;

· RWA Potential: The BCG report estimates that by 2030, the on-chain real asset scale could reach USD 16 T; these assets require a secure, low-friction cross-chain liquidity layer.

5.2 Revenue Structure: Multi-source Cash Flow Rather Than Single Point Game

C-end: For example, Golden Goose has generated over $200,000 in in-app purchases and strategy sharing in the first two quarters of 2025; as daily active users and reinvestment rates continue to rise, this growth curve is the steepest;

B-end: The Cycle SDK adopts a hybrid model of subscription + transaction commission; once more DApps entrust settlement to Cycle, the SDK fee and enterprise customization services will generate predictable annual revenue.

Infrastructure: Although the inter-chain settlement fee for Rollin / Rollout starts low, as more than 20 chains connect simultaneously and the daily cross-chain volume increases to tens of millions or even billions of dollars, its "infrastructure tax" will become the most stable cash flow.

Key points: The income side presents a three-tier progression of C-end consumption (quick money) + B-end subscriptions (steady money) + infrastructure taxation (long tail), avoiding reliance on a single blockbuster or airdrop speculation.

5.3 User Funnel: Allowing Web2 to Naturally Flow to On-Chain

Cycle is not "just another cross-chain bridge"; instead, it creates an invisible public foundation for the logic of cross-chain bridges, making it inherently a lever for stacking traffic entry.

When the promotion side first achieves exposure through TikTok and X videos, it then uses the "wallet installation" landing page to guide the audience into the site. After that, one-click binding and direct fiat recharge allow users to complete account activation; each level of the funnel establishes quantifiable KPIs, enabling precise iteration of marketing budgets and product optimization, rather than relying on airdrops to attract attention.

When new liquidity flows into the Cycle through Rollin/Rollout, it not only directly contributes to transaction fees but also increases the strategy capacity and yield of C-end products; higher yields attract more C-end users and funds, driving liquidity to continue expanding. Meanwhile, the demonstration of yields will attract developers to adopt the Cycle SDK, reusing the same settlement layer in scenarios such as DEX, lending, blockchain games, and payment gateways — the more developers there are, the higher the capital turnover rate, the lower the transaction fees, and the faster the flywheel spins.

6. Liquidity Hub — Inject liquidity into the underlying settlement layer.

Cycle Network announced that the public test of Cycle Liquidity Hub will launch this week, open to any users holding USDC or USDT for access to the underlying liquidity pool. As of mid-June, Cycle has aggregated a secure deposit of 370 million TVL at the settlement layer. Unlike traditional liquidity mining, which locks funds into a single protocol, the funds in the Liquidity Hub go directly into Cycle's multi-chain settlement buffer, serving as the clearing reserves for Rollin / Rollout.

Key points:

· The first month after launch will initiate a 30-day liquidity incentive, including dual-track rewards of liquidity mining + token airdrop;

· Early liquidity exclusive estimated annual return;

· The withdrawal experience is no different from regular staking — you can deposit and withdraw at any time;

Participants will receive on-chain credential NFTs, which can later be mapped to Cycle ecological governance weights.

This means that users of Cycle are not just participants, but also co-builders of the settlement network: your stablecoin not only seeks yields, but also provides deep liquidity for the multi-chain clearing system, directly enhancing the capital efficiency and safety redundancy of all DApps.

Conclusion: The "Key Link" to the Mass Era of Web 3

From the era of dial-up to mobile internet, from check clearing to second-level payments, each reconstruction of infrastructure is an upgrade of the value transmission paradigm. In the world of Web3, the real "storm of universality" does not arise from a single protocol or hot narrative, but from the joint evolution of underlying trust and experience.

Cycle Network has proposed a brand new answer at this era node: to reshape the interaction paradigm with chain abstraction, break liquidity barriers with unified settlement, and build a multi-chain clearing network without bridges on the vision of "any asset, any chain, one click" — allowing the flow of value on the chain to no longer be a technical gamble, but a part of daily life.

When stablecoins and RWA become the main force of on-chain assets, and a new generation of users seamlessly access Web3 through games, content, and payments, Cycle not only provides the pathway but also becomes a high-speed channel for trust to freely shuttle across multiple chains.

In the future, Web3 applications will no longer ask "which chain is on", but will be accustomed to "it's there" just like we use electricity and the network today. And that invisible but powerful value pathway, most likely, is called Cycle. The cloud-native era on the chain has begun.