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Metastable is an onchain clearing solution for stablecoins. It instantly converts one stablecoin into another across chains, in a single transaction. Send USDC on one chain, receive a different stablecoin on another, with no bridging, no DEX, and no slippage. Any stablecoin (USDC, USDT, or a branded stablecoin) can be enrolled. For example: a USDC holder on Arbitrum wants a branded stablecoin on a new chain. With Metastable, that happens in one transaction. No manual bridging, no extra steps.

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The problem it solves

Stablecoins are scattered across dozens of chains and dozens of forms. Getting the right one, on the right chain, is still slow and manual, both for the people holding them and the teams building on them.
A branded stablecoin is a stablecoin issued by a specific project, app, or chain, distinct from broad-market stablecoins like USDC or USDT.
Take a branded stablecoin. Launching one is now easy, but getting holders to actually use it is the hard part. Most holders already keep their balances in USDC or USDT, which are spread across many chains. So to grow, a new stablecoin has to meet them where their funds already are. The same flow works in the other direction. Holders won’t enter a stablecoin they can’t easily exit.

Without Metastable

  1. Bridge USDC to the destination chain
  2. Acquire gas on that chain
  3. Find a decentralized exchange (DEX) with the USDC ↔ branded stablecoin pair
  4. Swap, often with slippage and a rate below 1:1
Each step loses stablecoin holders.

With Metastable

Send USDC from any supported chain, receive the branded stablecoin on the destination chain. One transaction.1:1 stablecoin conversions. No bridge, no DEX, no liquidity bootstrap. The system itself holds reserves of both tokens.
For teams building on stablecoins, this changes three things:
  • Less friction: bridging, getting gas, and swapping on a DEX collapse into a single transaction, so fewer holders drop off along the way
  • Wider reach: stablecoin holders can come from any supported chain, so growth does not depend on getting listed on a DEX on every chain
  • Flexible pricing: fees are set per route, so the team can charge on the way in, on the way out, on both, or set fees to zero to encourage adoption. Fees can also be quoted off-chain, so the team can give chosen users a preferential rate such as 1:1

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Use cases

Branded stablecoin issuers

Metastable handles conversions between the branded stablecoin and broad-market stablecoins like USDC and USDT.

Stablecoin payment apps

A payment app may accept deposits in one stablecoin, hold balances in another, and send payments in a third. Metastable handles the conversions between them.

Multi-chain stablecoin operators

Adding support for a stablecoin on a new chain happens through route configuration, without needing a separate integration per chain.

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Key capabilities

Cross-chain & same-chain

One transfer model handles both paths.

Per-route fees

Set fees per route and direction: charge on the way in, out, both, or not at all. Fees can also be quoted off-chain to give chosen users a lower or fee-free rate (1:1 conversion).

Automatic rebalancing

Add collateral to a route once, and the system keeps it balanced across chains automatically, with no active management needed.

Direct destination delivery

Conversions land on the destination chain directly, with no intermediate-chain hops.

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Supported tokens

Metastable works with any standard ERC-20 token that can be enrolled in a route. In practice, this is most commonly stablecoins:
  • Broad-market stablecoins: USDC, USDT
  • Branded stablecoins: issued by chains, apps, or platforms

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How it works

At a high level:
  1. A stablecoin holder starts the swap on the source chain by sending USDC (or another supported collateral).
  2. Metastable routes the funds to the destination chain.
  3. The holder receives the target stablecoin on the destination chain.
The same flow works for same-chain swaps, for example USDC to a branded stablecoin on the same network. Every swap can be tracked end-to-end in the Hyperlane Explorer.

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FAQ

Any standard ERC-20 token can be enrolled in a route. In practice, this is most commonly stablecoins: broad-market stablecoins (USDC, USDT) and branded stablecoins.
Each new chain gets its own deployed CrossCollateralRouter contracts (one per supported token). The same transferRemoteTo interface is used to route swaps to and from the new chain.
Liquidity sits in the router contracts and is rebalanced automatically across chains. There is no external market maker, OTC desk, or rebalancing infrastructure to coordinate with.
Yes. Fees are set per route, per direction. Routes can charge on inbound swaps, outbound swaps, both, or be fee-free. Routes can also use off-chain signed quotes to give specific users a preferential rate such as 1:1, while everyone else pays the standard route fee.
Reach out to the Abacus Works team to get started.

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More resources

To dive deeper into how Metastable works under the hood, or learn about the underlying architecture:

Metastable Technical Details

Contract structure, swap flows, fee quoting, and rebalancing mechanics.

Hyperlane Warp Routes 2.0

Architecture overview and the model Metastable is built on.

Deploy HWR 2.0

Walkthrough for deploying a multi-collateral route.

Native Rebalancing

How collateral stays balanced across chains automatically.