This guide covers prerequisites, activation, and your first deposit and withdrawal via the Fireblocks Console. All functionality is also available via the API — see the API guide. For flow details, see USDC Gateway Overview.
Beta feature: USDC Gateway is currently in Beta mode and is available via the Fireblocks Console. To request access, go to Labs, or contact your Customer Success Manager.
Prerequisites
| Prerequisite | Details |
| Pre-defined Policy rules | You should have both an Approve policy rule and a Transfer rule enabled for deposits to the gateway. The Approve policy rule is intended for the first approval transaction from the vault account to the gateway wallet. If deposit automation is enabled, a rule with the initiator set to the USDC Gateway Depositor service user is also required. See Setting up policy rules for USDC Gateway. |
| Vault account | A vault account exists to host the Gateway wallet. Each Gateway wallet is bound to exactly one vault account. |
| USDC asset wallets | The vault account has at least one USDC asset wallet with a generated address. |
| Native gas balance | The vault account holds enough native gas (e.g. ETH on Ethereum, MATIC on Polygon) on every chain you plan to deposit from, unless Gas Station or Universal Gasless is configured for the workspace, in which case gas is covered automatically. Withdrawals do not require source-chain gas; Circle covers it and bills it to your Gateway balance. |
Step 1: Activate the Gateway wallet
Activate via the Console
Activation creates the Gateway wallet which is bound to the vault account. No funds move. You can enable deposit automation at this stage. See Deposit automation below.
To activate, select the three-dots menu on any vault or USDC asset wallet and select Activate Gateway wallet.
Deposit automation
Instead of initiating deposits manually, you can now enable deposit automation so that eligible deposits are initiated automatically once your vault's balance on a given chain reaches a threshold you configure per vault account. A scheduler checks the balance every 60 minutes by default; this interval is configurable via API.
This is set up during the activation flow: a toggle for deposit automation appears at the activation stage, and it's on by default.
Automated deposits are initiated by a dedicated service user, USDC Gateway Depositor, which can only initiate transactions, but not sign them. A designated signer is also required, along with a corresponding Policy rule. The exact policy setup can be found here: Setting up policy rules for USDC Gateway.
Step 2: Deposit USDC into Gateway
The first deposit from a vault address on a given chain triggers an automatic Approve transaction for Gateway smart contract approval. If your workspace policies don't already cover this, follow the policy setup guide for USDC Gateway to configure the required Approve rule. Once approved, subsequent deposits on the same chain proceed without an additional approval step.
Deposit via the Console
To deposit, navigate to the USDC Gateway virtual asset wallet record and initiate the deposit from there. If deposit automation is enabled, eligible deposits are initiated automatically and this manual step is not required.
Step 3: Withdraw USDC from Gateway
The destination can be anything — a Fireblocks vault account, a one-time address, or a whitelisted address. You specify only the destination chain, destination address, and amount; Fireblocks automatically selects which chain to draw from based on your current Gateway balance.
Withdraw via the Console
To withdraw, navigate to the USDC Gateway virtual asset wallet record and initiate the withdrawal from there.
Check your Gateway balance
Note: Gateway balance may be delayed depending on Circle's required block confirmations per chain. See Circle's supported blockchain reference for details.
View balance breakdown via the Console
To see your total balance and per-chain breakdown, select the "i" icon next to the USDC Gateway virtual asset wallet in the vault view.
Manage your Gateway wallet settings
Select the $ icon on the USDC Gateway virtual asset wallet to open the USDC Gateway settings modal for that vault. From here, you can update the vault's deposit automation configuration or archive its Gateway wallet.
Archiving via the Console
Archiving stops the Gateway wallet from accepting new deposits or withdrawals. It does not move funds — any USDC already held in Circle Gateway remains in place and becomes accessible again if you reactivate. If deposit automation was enabled, archiving stops it immediately, with no further automated deposits initiated.
Supported chains
The set of supported chains may expand during Beta phase.
Mainnet USDC Gateway assets
| Chain | Fireblocks asset ID |
Arbitrum |
USDC_ARB_3SBJ |
Avalanche |
USDC_AVAX |
Base |
USDC_BASECHAIN_ETH_5I5C |
Ethereum |
USDC |
HyperEVM |
USDC_B64VHHFG_XX2F |
OP Mainnet |
USDC_OPT_9T08 |
Polygon PoS |
USDC_POLYGON_NXTB |
Sei |
USDC_B68NGGMY_YSEF |
Sonic |
USDC_E_B7GKLA1Z_TQ94 |
Unichain |
USDC_B7V9C52Z_CYWP |
World Chain |
USDC_E_B7DRHSD9_OINX |
Testnet USDC Gateway assets
| Chain | Fireblocks asset ID |
Arbitrum (Sepolia) |
USDC_ARB_SEPOLIA_V84S |
Arc |
USDC_ARC_TEST_G5EN |
Avalanche (Fuji) |
USDC_AVAX_FUJI |
Base (Sepolia) |
USDC_BASECHAIN_ETH_TEST5_8SH8 |
Ethereum (Sepolia) |
USDC_ETH_TEST5_0GER |
HyperEVM |
USDC_B6RLTAMC_VKLF |
OP Mainnet (Sepolia) |
USDC_OPT_SEPOLIA_AZBE |
Polygon PoS (Amoy) |
USDC_AMOY_POLYGON_TEST_7WWV |
Sei |
USDC_B72Z7SP0_XAWM |
Sonic |
USDC_B64G796G_SXBE |
Unichain (Sepolia) |
USDC_B6Y9TTZY_0809 |
World Chain (Sepolia) |
USDC_B6YDJ0HK_6UDW |
Limits
No minimum or maximum deposit or withdrawal amount is enforced at the Fireblocks layer. If Circle Gateway rate-limits an operation on its side, the transaction will fail with the error surfaced from Circle.
Fees
Withdrawals incur the following fees, charged in USDC against your Gateway balance:
| Fee | Amount |
| Circle transfer rate | 0.005% of the withdrawal amount |
| Withdrawal Source-chain gas | Variable — quoted by Circle per source chain at withdrawal time |
| Withdrawal forwarding fee | Circle's Forwarding Service covers destination-chain gas and delivery for the withdrawal. Its fee is deducted directly from the USDC delivered on the destination chain, in addition to the Circle transfer rate. |
Deposits incur only the standard source-chain gas fee. This is paid from the vault account's native gas balance, unless Gas Station or Universal Gasless is enabled, in which case gas is covered automatically. There is no Fireblocks-side or Circle-side fee for deposits.
Fees are set by Circle Gateway and may change. For the current fee schedule, refer to Circle's documentation.