Unveiling the cross-chain security of USDT and USDC: How to identify native assets and bridge risks

Recently, some users were surprised to find that USDT and USDC on a certain public chain were actually issued by a third-party cross-chain bridge. This has raised concerns about the asset security of crypto assets. When using digital money, it is crucial to understand the chain it is on and the officially supported cross-chain bridges. This article will explore how to determine whether a stablecoin is an officially issued native asset and how to ascertain its cross-chain bridge support.

For USDC, the official website’s FAQ section clearly states that it is a native asset on 8 blockchains: Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, TRON, Algorand, Stellar, Flow, and Hedera. USDC on other chains are bridge assets. It is worth noting that although USDC on a public chain has received official support from the issuer and can be deposited and withdrawn directly through its account, it is still considered a bridge asset rather than a native asset. However, the issuer’s support indicates a certain recognition of the asset’s security.

Regarding USDT, its official transparency page lists all the natively supported blockchains. Interestingly, the “Omni” mentioned is actually the predecessor of a certain token standard that has been frequently discussed recently, and USDT was initially issued on Bitcoin/Omni.

How to determine the cross-chain bridge support for non-native assets? We can query through a certain data platform. By selecting USDC under the stablecoin label on that platform, we can see the bridging situation of USDC on various chains. If information cannot be found on that platform, relevant information can be searched for using a search engine or blockchain explorer. For example, the block explorer of a certain public chain indicates that its USDC is supported by a specific cross-chain bridge.

It is worth noting that stablecoins on mainstream Layer 2 networks are still non-native assets. However, due to the specific technologies that Layer 2 networks are based on, these bridged assets may be somewhat safer compared to Layer 1 networks. We can simply understand their risk status through specialized risk assessment tools.

In general, to ensure asset security, it is recommended to hold native assets of mainstream blockchains as much as possible. Otherwise, you may face the situation of “not your private key, not your coin”; worse, your assets may be issued by unreliable third parties.