What is Noble?
Noble is an appchain purpose-built for native asset issuance in Cosmos. The Cosmos ecosystem has dozens of appchains that are securely connected by the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol.
 

How does USDC on Noble operate within Cosmos?

USDC on Noble can be securely transferred to appchains in Cosmos via IBC. The IBC network gives independent appchains the ability to communicate and exchange assets like USDC directly with each other. Developers and users can transfer USDC from Noble to appchains via IBC to send, spend, save, borrow, lend, and trade with digital dollars.

 

Please note that Circle Mint and Circle APIs only support USDC on Noble from the Cosmos ecosystem. To learn more about this, see our USDC on Noble FAQ article here.

  

What is IBC, and how is it different from third-party lock-and-mint bridging?

The IBC protocol is designed to deliver reliable and secure communication between appchains. IBC allows general message passing, which includes digital asset transfers.

 

Unlike third-party lock-and-mint bridging, IBC does not require a set of third-party validators to sit between chains and verify the authenticity of cross-chain messages. Instead, IBC uses a light client verification model to allow for more secure bridging to take place between IBC-enabled chains. This means Cosmos appchains can use IBC to verify the state between each other, which reduces the risk of fraudulent transactions and bridge hacks.
 

How does IBC routing work for USDC on Noble?

With Noble’s IBC routing, users can seamlessly send USDC on Noble between appchains without losing the fungibility of the native USDC asset. For example, if a user sends USDC from Noble to Osmosis via IBC, then takes that asset to dYdX, the asset is no longer fungible with USDC sent directly from Noble. While IBC paths ensure a stable connection to the native asset on the origin (or issuance) chain, it can also create complexities for the user if the path becomes more than 1 hop away from the origin chain.

 

To solve this UX challenge, Noble leverages packet-forwarding technology to enable asset transfers between IBC-connected chains in “1 click”. When a user wants to send their asset from one chain to another, the asset is routed through Noble, thus ensuring a consistent “1 hop” route for USDC among different IBC paths.

 

Example scenarios:

• User sends USDC from Noble to Osmosis = Noble → Osmosis
• User sends IBC-transferred USDC from Osmosis to dYdX = Osmosis → Noble → dYdX
• User sends IBC-transferred USDC from dYdX to Osmosis = dYdX → Noble → Osmosis

 

The user experience is the same for all transfers due to packet-forwarding technology, providing a “1 click” experience.

  

Why might a developer build an appchain in Cosmos vs. an app on a blockchain like Ethereum?

Developers may prefer the degree of customization and flexibility enabled by Cosmos SDK and operating a sovereign blockchain to host their applications.

This may result in the ability to design a faster and more efficient user experience, lower transaction costs with gas fees paid in USDC, and the ability to transfer messages and assets like USDC via IBC to other appchains in Cosmos.

For more information on the best way to leverage USDC on Noble, check out the specific user scenarios mentioned here.