Across Protocol (ACX)

Overview

Across Protocol is a system for moving digital assets between blockchains. A person holding USDC on Arbitrum, for example, can use Across to receive USDC on Base. Its main feature is an intent: the user states the result they want, while independent participants called relayers handle the transfer. Relayers can deliver assets on the destination chain before the slower settlement process finishes. (docs.across.to)

ACX is the token introduced in 2022 to help govern Across and support its growth. Its role is changing. In September 2026, Across announced that the protocol had moved to Across, Inc., also called AcrossCo, and that ACX would be phased out. The company says the token will lose its governance, utility, and economic functions after January 8, 2027. The bridge and the token therefore have different paths: Across continues to provide cross-chain services, while ACX is approaching the end of its planned role. (across.to)

History & Team

From an Ethereum bridge to cross-chain infrastructure

Risk Labs, the team also associated with the UMA protocol, developed Across. Across V1 launched in October 2021, followed by V2 in 2022 and an intents-based V3 in 2024. ACX launched in late 2022 as part of an effort to give token holders a voice in the project. In 2025, Across introduced V4, designed to make it easier to support additional blockchains. (risklabs.foundation)

Hart Lambur, a UMA co-founder, was involved in Across from its early design work. Allison Lu co-founded Risk Labs, while Matt Rice has held a technical leadership role there. Across reported a 2025 token sale led by Paradigm, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and Multicoin Capital. This funding supported development during the token-governed phase. (across.to)

A governance vote later approved a move from the token-based DAO structure to AcrossCo, a U.S. corporation. Across announced the completed transfer and opened a token exchange process in September 2026. That change is central to understanding both the team’s future work and ACX’s remaining purpose. (docs.across.to)

Technology & How It Works

Intents, relayers, and settlement

An intent describes an outcome rather than every step needed to reach it. A user might ask to send an asset from one chain and receive a specified asset on another. The user submits a transaction on the starting chain. Relayers then examine the request and compete to complete it, using funds they already hold on the destination chain. The relayer that fills the request is repaid later through the protocol’s settlement process. (across.to)

This separates two events that traditional bridges often make users experience as one long wait. Delivery is when the user receives assets. Settlement is when the relayer’s work is checked and its funds are reimbursed. Across uses UMA’s optimistic oracle to verify repayment bundles: proposed results can be challenged before they become final. Ethereum also serves as a central settlement point in the protocol’s design. (docs.across.to)

Across V4 adds a method for proving Ethereum state to supported destination chains using zero-knowledge technology. In simple terms, a proof lets a chain check that certain settlement information exists on Ethereum without relying on a separate, custom verification design for every new chain. Across uses this approach alongside its optimistic-oracle process; each serves a different part of settlement. (docs.across.to)

The protocol has also helped develop ERC-7683, a shared format for cross-chain intent orders. A common format can make it easier for applications to submit requests and for relayers to understand them. Across supports ERC-7683 through a contract called AcrossOriginSettler. (docs.across.to)

Tokenomics & Utility

ACX’s original role and planned sunset

ACX has a fixed supply of one billion tokens. Its distribution included tokens held by the Across DAO, the Risk Labs treasury, team members, investors, and community participants. Across also used token incentives for activities such as supplying bridge liquidity. These allocations help explain how the earlier DAO funded work and encouraged participation; they do not describe a continuing role for ACX after its planned phaseout. (across.to)

During the DAO period, ACX holders could vote on proposals affecting the protocol and its treasury. The governance model gave holders a way to take part in decisions beyond simply using the bridge. The vote to move Across to a corporate structure became a major example of that power in practice. (across.to)

Across now offers holders two exchange paths through its official portal: an application to exchange ACX for AcrossCo equity, or a redemption for USDC. Both are scheduled to close on January 8, 2027. The equity path has eligibility rules, identity checks, and a stated minimum holding, though smaller amounts may be considered. Across says ACX will have no governance, utility, or economic function after that date. (across.to)

Bridge users pay for transfers through the difference between the amount sent and the amount received. Across describes components that compensate relayers and liquidity providers. Those bridge fees and ACX’s governance history are separate parts of the project’s economic model. (docs.across.to)

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Across began with transfers between Ethereum and its scaling networks. Its supported routes have expanded to include chains such as Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Solana. Supported assets depend on the route. For example, Across supports USDC transfers between Solana and a range of Ethereum-compatible chains. (across.to)

For an individual, a bridge transfer can place funds on the chain where they want to use an application. For a developer, Across can be part of the application itself: a user may move funds across chains and then make a deposit, swap assets, or complete another action on arrival. This reduces the number of separate steps the user must manage. Across provides developer interfaces for building these flows. (docs.across.to)

Across also uses more than one way to route some transfers. Its USDC integration with Circle’s CCTP V2, for instance, lets the system choose between relayer-based fills and CCTP transfers for supported routes. This matters because a small transfer and a large transfer may be handled more effectively in different ways. The broader Across ecosystem is therefore about moving assets and completing actions across chains, rather than about spending ACX within each transfer. (across.to)

Advantages & Challenges

The intent model makes cross-chain activity easier to describe: the user chooses a desired result, and relayers handle much of the work behind it. Competition among relayers can help deliver funds quickly. By settling repayments after delivery, Across can make a destination-chain asset available before the full accounting process ends. Its developer tools also allow apps to build cross-chain actions into a single flow. (across.to)

The same design has practical limits. A relayer needs enough of the right asset on the destination chain to fill a request. Fees can differ by route because gas costs, available capital, and liquidity-pool use differ. Supported chains and assets also vary, so one route may offer options that another does not. These are features of how the system operates, rather than a single fixed speed or fee that applies to every transfer. (docs.across.to)

For people studying ACX, the largest change is organizational. The bridge’s technical development can continue under AcrossCo, but the token’s former governance model is ending. Understanding the protocol’s use no longer means assuming that long-term use of the bridge creates a continuing function for ACX. (across.to)

Where to Buy & Wallets

ACX is available on Kraken. The token has also appeared on decentralized exchanges through compatible wallets. Exchange listings can change during the phaseout; Binance ended ACX spot trading in August 2026. Across directs holders who want to use its token exchange portal to hold ACX in a self-custody wallet rather than leave it on a centralized exchange. (kraken.com)

MetaMask and Rabby are examples of wallets for holding Ethereum-compatible ACX. Across also names Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets as options. ACX exists on more than one network, so the wallet network and token contract need to match the tokens being received. The official Across exchange portal connects to a self-custody wallet for its equity-application and USDC-redemption paths. (across.to)

Regulatory & Compliance

The move to AcrossCo gives the project a U.S. corporate structure, while the ACX exchange process has distinct rules for its two paths. Across states that equity applicants must complete identity checks and that U.S. applicants must qualify as accredited investors. The USDC path is subject to sanctions screening. These conditions concern the token transition; they do not describe every possible use of the bridge. (across.to)

Rules also differ by jurisdiction. In the European Union, the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, sets a framework for crypto-asset services and related disclosures. In the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority applies rules to promotions of qualifying crypto-assets. How a service or token transaction is treated depends on the activity and the rules of the place where it occurs. (esma.europa.eu)

Under Islamic finance principles, a Shariah assessment considers matters such as interest, gambling, and excessive uncertainty. Across’s basic bridging function moves assets between chains, but the asset moved and the terms of a particular transaction also matter. The separate choices to hold ACX, redeem it for USDC, or apply for equity involve different arrangements, so a single halal judgment about the bridge alone does not settle each of those questions. (aaoifi.com)

Future Outlook

Across’s next phase centers on the bridge and its developer infrastructure under AcrossCo. Its intents-based design, ERC-7683 work, V4 settlement architecture, and integrations across different chains provide the foundation for that work. The company’s stated direction is to keep building cross-chain services as it moves away from token-based governance. (docs.across.to)

ACX has a much narrower timeline. The announced exchange options close on January 8, 2027, and Across says the token’s functions end after that date. The lasting question for the project is how widely its transfer and application tools are used—not what new bridge utility ACX might gain. (across.to)

Summary

Across Protocol helps people and applications move assets between blockchains through intents, relayers, and later settlement. ACX helped govern and support that system during its DAO years. With Across now operating under AcrossCo and ACX scheduled for phaseout, the protocol’s cross-chain technology and the token’s remaining role are best understood separately. (across.to)