Across Protocol

About Across Protocol (ACX)

What Is Across Protocol (ACX)?

Across is a cross-chain interoperability protocol built around intents. A user states the outcome they want, for example a specific token arriving on a specific chain, and a competitive network of relayers delivers that outcome immediately using their own capital. Settlement happens later and in bulk, on Ethereum, through optimistic verification. Across is not a blockchain; it is a settlement and liquidity layer sitting across many of them, with fills documented at roughly two seconds on mainnet across more than twenty chains.

ACX is the associated token, and one fact belongs up front. Across governance approved a proposal called "The Bridge Across," converting the project from a token-based DAO into a US C corporation. ACX holders are offered a token-to-equity exchange or a fixed cash buyout, so the token's forward role is being redefined rather than extended. The protocol and the token are now on separate paths, and treating them as one asset produces the wrong conclusion.

Official sources:

• Across
• Across documentation
• Governance forum
• Source code

Who Founded Across Protocol? (History)

Across was built by Risk Labs, the team behind UMA, and is publicly associated with co-founder Hart Lambur. The token launched in late 2022, after which the protocol moved from a conventional liquidity bridge to an intents architecture and later published a version four design replacing per-chain verification with zero-knowledge proofs.

Two governance events belong in any honest history. In June 2025 a pseudonymous researcher alleged that core contributors had steered roughly 150 million ACX to Risk Labs through two proposals, and that insider voting carried one of them to quorum; Hart Lambur called the accusations categorically untrue and noted that participating addresses were publicly disclosed.

Then in 2026 the DAO structure itself went to a vote. The proposal, reported as passing with roughly 91.5 percent support in a vote held from 31 March to 7 April 2026, moves protocol control, intellectual property and revenue rights into a new operating company, AcrossCo. Holders were offered either an exchange of 1,000 ACX for 1,000 shares or a buyout at a fixed 0.04375 USDC per token for a limited window. The exchange portal was targeted for the end of August 2026, and Across's documentation has described it as not yet live. Check the governance forum for the current position before acting.

How Across Works

1. The user submits an intent A depositor sends funds to a SpokePool contract on the origin chain and specifies the desired output token, chain, amount and recipient. The Swap API is the main interface, and Across also accepts intents through the ERC-7683 standard.

2. A relayer fills it immediately Permissionless relayers compete to serve the intent by fronting the output asset on the destination chain from their own inventory. The user is finished at this point, and the relayer now carries the risk and the capital cost.

3. Settlement is aggregated and optimistic A participant called the dataworker batches many fills into a root bundle and proposes it to the HubPool on Ethereum, posting a bond in the Across Bond Token, an ERC-20 backed by Ether, at roughly 0.45 ABT. If nobody disputes within the challenge window, the bundle finalizes and relayers are refunded on whichever chain they chose.

4. Disputes escalate to UMA A challenger posts an equivalent bond and the case goes to UMA's Data Verification Mechanism, where token holders vote on validity and the losing side forfeits its bond. Only one honest party needs to be watching.

5. Version four settlement Across V4 replaces per-chain adapters with zero-knowledge proofs from Succinct's SP1 proving network. The confirmed bundle is written to a HubPoolStore contract, a Finalizer waits for Ethereum finality and requests a proof, then submits it through SP1Helios so a UniversalSpokePool can execute settlement.

Key Ecosystem Components

• HubPool on Ethereum, holding liquidity provider capital and coordinating settlement
• SpokePools on every supported chain, accepting deposits and recording fills
• The permissionless relayer network, and the liquidity providers who fund the pool
• The dataworker, which aggregates fills into root bundles
• UMA's Optimistic Oracle and Data Verification Mechanism as the dispute layer, with the Across Bond Token as collateral
• The Swap API, an ERC-7683 origin settler and persistent deposit addresses for integrators

ACX Token Utility

Historically ACX has been used for governance of the Across DAO and for incentive programs, including staking of ACX and of liquidity provider tokens. A direct read of the Ethereum contract at 0x44108f0223a3c3028f5fe7aec7f9bb2e66bef82f returns the name "Across Protocol Token" and a total of 1,000,000,000 units.

That description is now historical rather than forward-looking. Under the approved restructuring, governance authority moves to a corporate entity and holders are offered equity or a cash exit instead of a continuing on-chain role. Across's documentation notes that participation requires holding ACX in a wallet whose private keys you control rather than on a centralized exchange. Anyone evaluating ACX should treat the corporate action, not protocol usage, as the primary driver of the token's situation.

What Makes Across Unique?

• One unified liquidity pool on Ethereum rather than a separate pool per route, concentrating capital instead of fragmenting it
• Relayers absorb latency and inventory risk, so users get fast fills without slippage-style pricing
• Security rests on a single-honest-actor assumption, not on a validator majority or a custodial multisig
• Settlement cost stays flat as volume grows, because fills are verified in aggregate

How Across Differs from Similar Bridges

Lock-and-mint bridges create a wrapped claim on the destination chain and concentrate risk in whoever controls the lockup, the design behind most large historical bridge losses. Across never issues a wrapper: the user receives the real destination asset from a relayer's inventory.

Liquidity-network bridges such as Stargate hold a pool on each chain and route between them, whereas Across holds one pool and lets relayers carry per-chain inventory, shifting capital efficiency onto professional market participants. General messaging layers such as LayerZero, Wormhole and Axelar are a different category again: they transmit arbitrary messages for others to build on, while Across is an application that consumes messaging and settles value.

Use Cases of Across Protocol

• Moving assets between Ethereum, its rollups and other supported chains in seconds
• Native stablecoin transfers, including native USDC through Circle's transfer protocol
• Embedded actions, where a swap and a destination-chain operation such as a lending deposit execute in one flow
• Chain abstraction inside wallets and applications, so the user never picks a route manually

How Across Is Secured

Across secures value optimistically. Bundles are assumed valid unless challenged, and both proposing and disputing require an economic bond. Anyone can run validation tooling, inspect a proposal and dispute it, so the assumption is that at least one honest participant is watching during each challenge window rather than that most validators are honest. The protocol also depends on components outside its own contracts: the canonical bridges used to rebalance funds between SpokePools, the destination chains themselves, and, in the version four path, the proving network and light client that verify settlement.

Risks and Considerations

• The corporate restructuring is the dominant consideration. Token governance is being replaced by a company, and exit terms and deadlines are set by that company
• Exchange support can change during a wind-down of this kind, so confirm current trading status rather than assuming a liquid market exists
• The 2025 allegations about DAO fund allocation and insider voting, and the founder's denial, remain part of the public record
• Optimistic settlement only works if someone disputes bad proposals inside the window, and disputes import UMA's own governance assumptions
• Fast fills depend on relayers holding inventory, so in stressed markets fills can slow or price worse
• Liquidity providers, not users, absorb the loss if a faulty bundle finalizes

Why Across Matters

Across is one of the clearest working demonstrations that intents beat routing for cross-chain transfer. Letting professional relayers front capital and settling their claims later in bulk removed the two things users disliked most about bridges, waiting and wrapped assets, without adding a custodian.

Where Can You Buy Across Protocol (ACX)?

ACX has traded on centralized exchanges and on Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges. Given the restructuring, listing status is unusually changeable and some venues have restricted or wound down ACX markets. Verify the status on any exchange before relying on it, and check the official governance forum regarding the exchange portal.

Major Centralized Exchanges (CEX)

ACX has been listed on venues including:

• Binance
• Coinbase
• Kraken
• KuCoin
• Gate

Storage Options After Purchase

• Any Ethereum-compatible wallet, such as MetaMask or Rabby, using the Ethereum contract address
• Hardware wallets through a compatible interface
• Exchange accounts, which is custodial

Across's documentation states that taking part in the token exchange requires holding ACX in a wallet whose private keys you control, not on an exchange. Anyone intending to participate should move to self-custody ahead of any deadline and confirm requirements on the official channels.

Related Coins

• Stargate Finance
• LayerZero
• Wormhole
• Axelar