Circle Launches Arc Mainnet With 100-Plus Builders and $74 Billion USDC Integration
Updated
Updated · Circle Internet Group · Sep 16
Circle Launches Arc Mainnet With 100-Plus Builders and $74 Billion USDC Integration
3 articles · Updated · Circle Internet Group · Sep 16
Summary
Arc went live as Circle’s public Layer 1 blockchain for financial markets, payments and AI-driven transactions, launching with more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders already active.
USDC sits at the network’s core: gas fees are paid in the stablecoin, Circle Payments Network is natively integrated, and Circle said its regulated digital dollar has more than $74 billion in circulation.
11 founding validators including BlackRock, DTCC, ICE, Mastercard, Visa and Standard Chartered will help secure the permissioned network, which Circle says offers sub-second finality and post-quantum signature support.
700 million testnet transactions, 1,200 built projects and 75,000 active Arc House members underpin the launch, while Aave, Morpho, Uniswap and other trading and lending protocols are live from day one.
10 billion ARC tokens were minted this week as a technical milestone for a possible 2027 shift toward proof of stake, though Circle said that is not yet a commitment to a public token launch.
If USDC covers all gas fees on Circle's new Arc blockchain, what is the hidden purpose of the 10 billion ARC tokens minted?
Can a blockchain governed by Wall Street giants like BlackRock truly remain an open economic operating system for the internet?
With AI agents now transacting autonomously on Arc, who is legally responsible when a machine makes a disastrous financial decision?
Inside Circle’s $3B Arc Blockchain: Institutional-Grade Settlement, USDC Gas, and the Future of Regulated Crypto Networks
Overview
Circle's launch of the Arc mainnet on September 16, 2026, marks its evolution from a stablecoin issuer to a full economic operating system. Arc uses a permissioned Proof-of-Authority model managed by Circle and major financial institutions, prioritizing compliance and predictable operations over open decentralization. With USDC as its native gas asset, Arc eliminates the need for volatile tokens, making costs stable and budgeting easier for businesses. The network’s technical design ensures fast, reliable settlement and supports Ethereum-compatible smart contracts. By enabling institutional settlement and tokenized assets, Arc challenges public blockchains and introduces new privacy and compliance features, but also faces regulatory risks and debate over its centralized structure.