Brale CEO Ben Milne highlights the limitations of current bridge models as numerous companies create their own stablecoins, leading to fragmented liquidity.
By Krisztian Sandor|Edited by Sheldon Reback Jul 29, 2026, 3:27 p.m. 2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on Brale CEO Ben Milne (Brale, modified by CoinDesk)SummaryShow- Brale has introduced the ION Protocol, which facilitates interoperability among stablecoins by allowing them to transfer across blockchains through a burn-and-mint process.
- The launch occurs in a market experiencing rapid expansion and fragmentation, with over 350 stablecoins and a total market cap exceeding $300 billion.
- Unlike conventional blockchain bridges that depend on pre-funded liquidity, ION seeks to minimize capital needs while addressing scalability challenges for customized stablecoins.
Brale, a company focused on stablecoin infrastructure, has unveiled a new interoperability protocol aimed at resolving a critical issue in the sector: the challenge of transferring an increasing variety of custom stablecoins between different blockchains.
The ION Protocol enables stablecoins to shift across blockchains by burning tokens on one network and minting an equivalent number on another. This innovative approach differs from traditional blockchain bridges, which typically require liquidity pools to be pre-funded on each blockchain.
The stablecoin market, valued at approximately $300 billion, is largely influenced by Tether's USDT and Circle Internet's USDC, but many new entrants are emerging. A wide range of banks, fintech companies, crypto firms, and asset managers are now issuing their own branded tokens for various applications, including payments and settlements.
According to CoinGecko, there are currently over 350 stablecoins, each pegged to real-world assets like fiat currencies. This highlights the urgent need for robust infrastructure to connect a diversifying ecosystem. Brale's CEO, Ben Milne, contends that the existing interoperability methods are inadequate as new issuers continue to launch their own tokens.
Challenges in Stablecoin Scaling
Brale supports more than 100 stablecoin initiatives across over 30 blockchains, as noted by CEO Ben Milne in a CoinDesk interview. Many clients handle billions of dollars in monthly transactions but maintain relatively low stablecoin balances since their tokens are specifically created for transactional purposes.
Transferring assets across different blockchains usually relies on liquidity pools or wrapped tokens, which necessitate capital being locked up across each supported blockchain. As the number of stablecoins and blockchains increases, the capital demands grow as well.
Milne stated, “The liquidity between stablecoin programs is the No. 1 barrier to scaling bespoke stablecoins. There’s not enough capital in the world to solve the problem,” he remarked.
The current model faces sustainability issues as the need for deep liquidity pools for every stablecoin on every blockchain becomes unmanageable. Instead, ION employs a burn-and-mint strategy akin to Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), but expands this concept to include any participating stablecoin issuer, not just one token.
The protocol is launching with partnerships that include Monad, Rain, Coinflow, Turnkey, Etherfuse, Spark, and Canton, initially available on a testnet before being rolled out more widely.
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