Wormhole Foundation Launches STIP Grant with 1.8 Million ARB to Strengthen Arbitrum Ecosystem

The Wormhole Foundation has unveiled its Short-Term Incentive Program (STIP) grant, bolstered by a significant 1.8 million ARB grant from Arbitrum DAO. This strategic initiative is set to take a significant leap forward in driving ecosystem growth and liquidity by rapidly onboarding 100 million natively issued USDC to the Arbitrum network.

This pioneering program offers ARB rewards to participants using Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) via Wormhole Connect. Users linking USDC to Arbitrum and depositing into popular DeFi protocols such as: ghost,Compound and Beefy (or simply holding bridged USDC) can integrate the Arbitrum ecosystem more tightly with Circle’s canonical bridges and accumulate rewards in line with the program’s goal of promoting liquidity in USDC.

Recognized as a cross-chain messaging protocol, Wormhole seamlessly supports Circle’s CCTP, facilitating the creation and burning of native USDC for cross-chain transfers. With a track record of sending over 1 billion cross-chain messages, Wormhole’s infrastructure plays a pivotal role in executing this grant.

Arbitrum DAO’s STIP is designed to foster ecosystem expansion, test innovative subsidy distribution models, and devise strategies to enhance network activity. The Wormhole Foundation’s STIP grant is specifically aimed at USDC users, encouraging them to migrate their assets to Arbitrum and encouraging users holding wrapped USDC.e to switch back to Ethereum and back into native USDC.

To participate in the program, users must connect their USDC to Arbitrum using a CCTP router on Portal Bridge. Afterwards, you can choose to supply USDC to Compound, Aave or Beefy to continue earning ARB rewards. Incentives are set to accrue every 7 days for up to 3 months and can be claimed for 1 year, with any unclaimed rewards ultimately reverting to the Arbitrum DAO.

The Wormhole Foundation’s mission is to power blockchain interoperability research and development. Through grants and ecosystem programs, we support teams to create secure, open source and decentralized products within the Wormhole ecosystem. The STIP grant is a testament to the Foundation’s commitment to enhancing multichain applications and bridges.

To stay up to date and participate in STIP grants, users can visit Wormhole’s dedicated rewards dashboard or follow the foundation on Twitter. The grant opens up a unique opportunity for USDC users to benefit from their participation while contributing to the growth of the Arbitrum network.

Arbitrum DAO’s strategic grant allocation, facilitated through Wormhole’s powerful platform, has the potential to significantly increase USDC’s primary presence in Arbitrum. This highlights collaborative efforts within the cryptocurrency space to drive innovation, interoperability, and user engagement across blockchain networks.

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