- Circle launched the public mainnet of its Arc layer-1 blockchain on Sept. 16, 2026, targeting financial markets, payments, tokenized assets and transactions involving AI agents.
- The initial validator pool includes BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard and other major financial and payments companies.
- Circle minted the initial supply of 10 billion ARC but said the technical step did not constitute a public token launch.
Circle launched the public mainnet of its Arc layer-1 blockchain on Sept. 16, 2026, with the live status displayed on the project’s official website. The network is designed for financial markets, payments, tokenized assets and transactions involving AI agents, with major financial and payments companies participating as validators.
Arc is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, uses USDC for transaction fees and provides transaction finality in under one second.
Validators and ecosystem integrations
Circle’s initial validator group includes BlackRock, Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., Galaxy, Global Payments, Intercontinental Exchange, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corp. and Visa. Circle said participants would be onboarded to the network in phases.
Decentralized finance protocols Aave, Morpho and Uniswap are available in the Arc ecosystem. In a statement provided to The Block, Circle reported more than 100 applications and over 100 institutional and ecosystem participants. Other integrations include the Circle Payments Network and its StableFX service.
ARC supply and network model
Circle carried out a genesis mint this week of the entire initial ARC supply of 10 billion tokens. The company said the mint was a technical step and did not mean the asset had launched publicly. Circle has not made a decision on a public token launch.
Circle continues to consider moving Arc from a proof-of-authority consensus model to proof-of-stake in 2027.
Previously published documentation positions ARC as an asset for coordinating network participants through governance, security and incentives. USDC remains the network’s fee-payment asset. Circle also said on the token’s official page that publication of the ARC model did not, by itself, constitute a token launch.
Development and funding
Circle unveiled Arc in August 2025 as a layer-1 blockchain for stablecoin transactions, tokenized assets and other financial instruments. The developers positioned it as infrastructure for institutions, offering predictable fees and integration with Circle services.
In May 2026, Circle raised $222 million through a presale of Arc tokens at a fully diluted network valuation of $3 billion. Participants included a16z crypto, BlackRock, Apollo, Intercontinental Exchange, SBI Group and other investors.
Under the token model disclosed at the time, 60% of the issuance is allocated to ecosystem participants, 25% to Circle and 15% to a reserve.
Source: Incrypted
