Anyone who has been involved in DeFi has experienced that nightmare – watching the news of cross-chain bridges being hacked. Names like Wormhole, Nomad, and Ronin appear, and behind them, assets worth billions of dollars vanish in an instant. In an era where multiple public chains coexist, cross-chain bridges hang like a knife over your head; your assets may only be a virtual mapping certificate, and the risk relies entirely on the security of that bridge.

The turning point has arrived. On September 8, 2025, USDD officially released its native version on the Ethereum mainnet, which is not just a technical update, but a positive response to the risks of cross-chain bridges.

**What is the difference between native and mapped**

Previously, USDD on Ethereum was mapped over through cross-chain bridges. It's different now—USDD has deployed a native ERC-20 smart contract on Ethereum, which means the USDD in your wallet is directly managed, minted, and burned by the contract on the Ethereum chain. An independent CertiK audit report backs this, eliminating reliance on the security of third-party bridges, effectively reducing the risk.

In simple terms, previously it relied on bridges as intermediaries, but now it is rooted on-chain. The benefits of the latter are obvious - there is one less weak link that can be attacked.

**Why this moment is crucial**

The cross-chain ecosystem has faced many issues in the past two years, with users' demands for asset security rising increasingly. USDD has chosen to deploy native contracts on a core public chain, which essentially provides a definite commitment to the security of the stablecoin. For token holders, this shift alleviates a significant psychological burden.