Stargate is a cross-chain liquidity protocol bounded by credits

Stargate credits versus Across relayers

One confirmed Stargate transfer consumes credit-backed capacity for its destination, while Across uses a three-layer intent system whose relayer fronts the payout.

Stargate couples the transfer to reserves already represented by route credits. Across separates delivery from settlement: relayers compete to fill an intent on the destination, then UMA-backed settlement reimburses them. Circle CCTP takes a third route for USDC, using a three-step message flow that starts with a source burn, passes through a signed attestation, and ends with a destination mint under Circle's contracts. Hop uses Bonders and hTokens, with 110% collateral and a 24-hour challenge period in its V1 design. The choice therefore changes with the token, chain pair, settlement model, and whether an application needs Stargate's pool-backed finality.

A route quote before the wallet signature

Two source-chain transactions are required for a first ERC-20 transfer with no allowance: one approval and one Stargate send, which is detailed in Stargate explainer.

Choose the source network, destination network, token, amount, and recipient, then inspect the credit limit, delivered amount, mode, and native-gas quote.

On Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and Avalanche, the wallet must hold the source chain's gas asset as well as the token being moved. An existing allowance removes the approval step, so the send becomes one source transaction. The quote also fixes minAmountLD, the lowest acceptable token output for that submission. If fees reduce output beneath that value, the contract rejects the send before messaging. Route capacity and gas prices change between quotes, so refresh them whenever the wallet has waited or switched networks.

Taxi and Bus trade delivery time for message cost

Two Stargate V2 modes separate urgency from messaging cost: Taxi sends one transfer immediately, while Bus batches between 2 and 10 passengers.

Taxi maps to an immediate LayerZero message and uses an empty OFT command, effectively 0 command bytes. Bus marks the ride with 1 byte, places it in a destination queue, and returns a ticket whose identifier occupies 56 bits. A bus departs after its configured capacity fills; the sender may also pay for unfilled seats through the drive operation. Local settlement occurs when the source transaction succeeds, although destination delivery waits for departure and message execution.

Only Taxi supports a composed call into another destination contract; Bus is reserved for token delivery without that extra action.

Same-asset routing and destination token identity

One Stargate V2 rule sets the asset boundary: USDC transfers as USDC, rather than becoming a destination-side swap into another token.

Each asset instance on a chain has one of two forms: a StargatePool backed by local reserves or a Hydra OFT backed by locked value in core pools. Pool paths release the destination's native token. Hydra locks USDC on a core chain and mints a representation such as USDC.e on a Hydra chain; movement between two Hydra chains burns on one side and mints on the other. Aave, Curve, and other DeFi contracts identify the delivered asset by contract address, so the route type decides whether the receiver gets a pool token, an OFT, or Circle-minted native USDC.

Fees follow the selected pathway

Two fee layers shape a Stargate transfer quote: the token-side treasury fee or reward and the LayerZero messaging fee paid in gas.

The Stargate DAO listing rule sets a 2-basis-point fee, equal to 0.02%, on transfers through the protocol. Pool treasury fees and rewards remain pathway-specific because the Planner sets them against credit demand. The messaging charge is separate and denominated in the source chain's gas asset. Stargate exposes five estimation methods; quoteOFT supplies minimum and maximum token bounds, while quoteSend returns two messaging fields, nativeFee and lzTokenFee.

For one hypothetical worked example, all changing inputs are assumed here: a 1 000 USDC send, a 0.20 USDC route fee, a 0.0004 ETH messaging quote, and a 999.70 USDC minimum. Subtracting the route fee gives 999.80 USDC, which clears the minimum by 0.10 USDC. The concrete result is 999.80 USDC delivered, while the wallet pays the separate 0.0004 ETH source-gas charge.

Refresh the calculation after any route or network change, because both credit demand and source-chain gas alter the signed transaction.

Liquidity, integrations, and STG governance

Three Stargate roles sit beyond a simple wallet transfer: applications integrate routes, liquidity providers fund pools, and veSTG holders govern parameters.

Applications use the same transport layer to collect collateral on one chain and continue a workflow on another, although only Taxi supplies destination compose logic. Liquidity providers deposit a single asset into chain-specific Stargate pools and receive an LP token representing their proportional claim. Farms can add STG incentives, while pool utilization and emissions determine variable yield. A treasury team may instead use transfers to rebalance USDC or USDT inventories across Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism without trading into a second asset.

STG has a fixed genesis supply of 1 billion tokens. Locking it produces non-transferable veSTG whose voting weight decays linearly. A formal vote needs a sponsor with 50 000 veSTG, stays open for at least 3 days, and requires 1 500 000 veSTG quorum plus 70% approval. Rejected proposals wait at least 14 days before resubmission. Those rules make the token relevant to governance, while ordinary transfers pay gas and route charges in other assets.

Where does Stargate's guarantee stop?

One successful source commitment activates Stargate's guarantee: reserved capacity backs destination execution, while arrival time still follows mode and message delivery.

The source chain, LayerZero message, destination chain, and selected route retain separate security assumptions. Bus adds queue time; Hydra adds representation and redemption mechanics. Two published V2 reports cover contract reviews by Zellic and OtterSec, though audits describe examined code rather than removing smart-contract risk. The off-chain Planner can reallocate only credits assigned through protocol messaging. If a path lacks credits, the quote limit falls and the transfer never reaches the committed state. Exposure changes among pool, Hydra OFT, direct OFT, and CCTP routes.

Dynamic credits and the pool invariants

One route limit is decisive inside Stargate: allocated destination credit must cover the quoted amount after fees before the source transfer commits.

Credits are accounting units, not wallet tokens or claims on an LP position. When a transfer sends amountOutSD toward a destination, the source path decreases that destination's credit. Fees reduce local credits and pool balance; rewards increase them. The Planner sends and receives credit messages to shift capacity toward active paths. This is why the displayed maximum is a route value rather than the pool's total token balance: part of that balance already backs local obligations or other destinations.

In the simplest case, Stargate enforces two accounting invariants: each pool balance covers local and remote credit obligations, and aggregate pool balances cover OFT supply plus locked value. V2 stores shared-denomination transfer amounts in a 64-bit unsigned integer, so the same encoded amount moves consistently across virtual machines with different native integer and decimal formats without changing its cross-chain denomination. The standard OFT precision uses 6 shared decimals. At that default precision, the representable ceiling is 18 446 744 073 709.551615 tokens. Individual assets can configure precision differently, so quoteOFT remains decisive for the route and amount being submitted, as broken down in Stargate guide.

The maximum changes whenever credits move, fees update, or another transfer consumes capacity on the same destination path.