From chainlink Author: Chainlink

Cross-Chain Tokens (CCTs) are natively interoperable across multiple blockchains and are secured by the Chainlink Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). 

With the prominence of many blockchain ecosystems, enabling token interoperability across chains is becoming more important than ever. The CCT standard simplifies this process by enabling token developers to deploy and manage token pools across chains in a decentralized, self-serve manner using Chainlink CCIP. 

Traditionally, developers faced a manual process to make tokens cross-chain compatible, requiring significant time and effort. The CCT standard eliminates this complexity. With the CCT standard, developers can deploy, configure, and manage token pools in a self-serve manner via a single interface. This self-service model not only accelerates deployment time but also empowers token developers with greater autonomy and control over their cross-chain token operations. 

This post explains the CCT standard and outlines its core benefits for seamlessly enabling interoperability for ERC20-compatible tokens within CCIP.

What Is the Cross-Chain Token (CCT) Standard?

CCTs are cross-chain native tokens secured by CCIP. The Cross-Chain Token (CCT) standard enables token developers to integrate new and existing tokens with CCIP in a self-serve manner in minutes. CCTs support self-serve deployments, full control and ownership for developers, enhanced programmability, and zero-slippage transfers—all backed by CCIP’s defense-in-depth security.

The CCT standard offers security, flexibility, and programmability benefits for token developers looking to make their new and existing tokens cross-chain interoperable via CCIP.

Notably, CCTs are token logic agnostic, meaning token developers can deploy pre-audited token pool contracts to turn any ERC20-compatible token into a CCT or deploy their own custom token pool contracts for bespoke token use cases. Importantly, CCTs do not require token developers to inherit any CCIP-specific code within their token’s smart contract.

CCTs were introduced as a part of the CCIP v1.5 upgrade. Read the full announcement for more details: Introducing the CCIP Cross-Chain Token (CCT) Standard, Self-Serve Onboarding, and More.

Benefits of the Cross-Chain Token (CCT) Standard