USDC on Avalanche: what a transfer costs right now

What sets the fee on Avalanche

USDC on Avalanche runs on the C-Chain, Avalanche's EVM chain, and a transfer pays gas in AVAX: the gas used times the C-Chain's base fee plus any priority fee.

On 22 October 2026 a native USDC transfer used 45,403 gas to an address that already held USDC and 62,964 to one that had never held it. We multiply those by the live gas price and the AVAX price on every refresh.

The Octane upgrade (ACP-176) changed how the C-Chain sets its base fee. Avalanche said it would make it possible to lower fees significantly and avoid the spikes that followed large blocks under the old fixed gas target, and validators can now vote to adjust the target.

Not included: exchange withdrawal fees, bridging, conversion spreads and Align's own pricing, which is quoted on request.

How long a transfer takes

Circle credits a USDC deposit after

1 confirmation, about 2 seconds

Final

On acceptance, typically within a few seconds

Avalanche's Snowman consensus makes a transaction final and irreversible once it's accepted, which Avalanche's docs say takes only a few seconds, with acceptance latency of about one second. There's no separate wait for a block to be finalized later. Circle credits a USDC deposit on Avalanche after one confirmation, about 2 seconds, and that is the time the tracker shows.

The USDC contract on Avalanche

0xB97EF9Ef8734C71904D8002F8b6Bc66Dd9c48a6E

Circle lists this as the USDC contract on the Avalanche C-Chain. It's native USDC, which Circle customers can mint directly. USDC.e on Avalanche was bridged from Ethereum through the Avalanche Bridge, and Circle says it isn't the same as native USDC. Sources: Circle, USDC contract addresses; Circle, Understanding USDC on Avalanche vs USDC.e. View it on the block explorer.

Sending USDC on Avalanche to Align

Align accepts USDC on Avalanche. It also accepts USDC on Ethereum, Solana, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism, and lists every network it supports in its docs. Money you receive lands in your balance as USDC, and from there you can send it to wallets or pay out in USD, EUR, GBP or AED from named accounts in your company's name.

Not sure which network to use? See which network to use for USDT and USDC payments.

Common mistakes

• Holding USDC.e instead of native USDC. USDC.e came from the Avalanche Bridge and is a different token. Compare the contract with 0xB97EF9Ef8734C71904D8002F8b6Bc66Dd9c48a6E before you send.
• Sending on the X-Chain or P-Chain. USDC lives on the C-Chain. Avalanche's other chains use different address formats, so check the wallet is on the C-Chain.
• No AVAX for gas. Fees on the C-Chain are paid in AVAX, so a self-custody wallet needs some next to its USDC.
• Sending USDT on Avalanche to Align. Align accepts USDC on Avalanche but not USDT. Send USDT on Ethereum, Tron, Solana, Polygon, Arbitrum or Optimism instead.

Not sure which network an address is on? Paste it into the wallet address checker. If a transfer has already gone to the wrong network or address, see what to do if you send USDT or USDC to the wrong network.

Other networks

• USDT on Tron (TRC-20) network fee
• USDT on Ethereum (ERC-20) network fee
• USDT on Solana network fee
• USDC on Base network fee
• USDC on Ethereum (ERC-20) network fee
• USDC on Solana network fee
• USDC on Polygon network fee
• USDC on Arbitrum network fee
• USDC on Optimism network fee
• Every network side by side, including Aptos

Estimates of network fees for information, not financial advice. Actual fees depend on network load at the moment you send and on the wallet or provider you use.