Stablecoin issuer Circle has acquired Interop Labs, the preliminary developer of the Axelar community.
This deal excludes the Axelar Network, Foundation, and AXL token, which can proceed to function independently. Common Prefix will take over growth obligations.
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Circle to Bring Interop Labs Team and Technology In-House
Circle, the corporate behind the second-largest stablecoin USDC, introduced that it has entered into an settlement to accumulate Interop Labs’ crew and proprietary know-how.
The stablecoin issuer plans to combine this crew to speed up progress on its Arc blockchain and Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP). Circle stated it expects the acquisition to close in early 2026.
“Our goal is to make blockchain connectivity seamless, and bringing the Interop Labs team into Circle will accelerate the Arc and CCTP roadmaps toward building the hub for multichain internet finance,” Nikhil Chandhok, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Circle, stated.
Meanwhile, both Circle and Interop Labs emphasised that the deal doesn’t embody the Axelar community.
“As the Interop Labs team transitions to Circle, the Axelar Network, Foundation and the AXL token will continue to operate independently under community governance and open source intellectual property will remain open source,” Circle added.
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Common Prefix, a long-time contributor to the Axelar Network, will now lead the community’s growth. In a latest X (previously Twitter) put up, the crew outlined its major priorities for 2026.
The 2026 focus areas embody increasing Axelar via new protocols and asset lessons, reallocating away from underperforming chains, introducing co-staking of blue-chip property to strengthen financial safety, making ready the community for institutional use through improvements in privateness and compliance, and exploring gasless bridging to allow zero-fee transfers utilizing idle gateway capital.
“Common Prefix is a team of scientists and engineers. Our scientists are post-docs, PhDs, and professors with strong academic backgrounds from renowned universities worldwide. We are an unapologetically multichain team, with deep expertise in Ethereum, XRP Ledger, Sui, Solana, Cosmos, and Bitcoin (having co-invented BitVM). We believe in a multichain world, where different chains can be used for different purposes. Axelar’s interoperability layer is an indispensable component that enables them to communicate,” the crew stated.
Market Reaction and Community Concerns
The market reacted rapidly to the acquisition information. The AXL token’s worth plunged, extending its broader downtrend. At the time of writing, the altcoin traded at $0.11. This represented a decline of almost 13% over the previous day.
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However, it’s value noting that the decline isn’t remoted. Over the previous day, the broader cryptocurrency market has declined by nearly 4%, with main property equivalent to Bitcoin and Ethereum in the pink.
The transfer has additionally brought on concerns amongst some neighborhood members. Crypto commentator Nick described the deal as “very concerning” for AXL holders.
“Being an AXL holder/supporter myself, I can’t help but to feel used in a very predatory way here. It feels like they utilized AXL as a monetization tool with retail + VCs being the bread & butter to build the platform. Then at the end of the day sell the platform which is basically everything of value to Circle,” he noted.
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Furthermore, one other analyst pressured that the state of affairs highlights what they described because the “token versus equity problem” in the crypto trade.
“You funded the project. You took the risk. You have no claim on the exit. Tokens aren’t shares. They never were. ‘Remains independent and community-governed’ = the people who built it are leaving for greener pastures,” Steady Crypto posted.
The commentator additionally famous that though Common Prefix has stepped in because the community’s new lead developer, there isn’t any obligation for any crew to stay indefinitely.
“Until crypto solves this, every token is a bet that the team sticks around – with zero contractual obligation that they will,” the analyst commented.
While the announcement has clearly shaken confidence amongst AXL holders, the challenge’s future now hinges on whether or not Common Prefix can efficiently execute its roadmap and rebuild belief in Axelar’s long-term worth proposition.
