Circle has launched the public mainnet of Arc, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for stablecoin payments, tokenized assets and institutional financial markets.
The network went live on September 16 with more than 100 applications and more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders. Arc uses USDC as its native gas token and is designed to provide sub-second transaction finality.
Circle is positioning Arc as an “Economic Operating System” for the internet, with infrastructure designed to support payments, foreign exchange, trading, lending, tokenized assets and AI-driven financial activity.
Unlike most Layer 1 networks, Arc does not require users to hold a separate native token to pay transaction fees.Gas fees on Arc are paid directly in USDC, meaning the same dollar-denominated asset used for payments can also be used to pay for transactions on the network.
Circle said this design is intended to make the network easier for financial institutions and businesses to use because they do not need to acquire and manage a separate volatile gas token.
Arc is also EVM-compatible, allowing developers to use existing Ethereum development tools and Solidity-based smart contracts.
BlackRock, Visa and Mastercard join as validators
Arc launched with a founding validator group made up largely of major financial institutions.
The cohort includes BlackRock, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation and Visa, alongside Circle.
The model gives institutions that are building on Arc a role in securing the network.
BlackRock is expected to deploy its BUIDL tokenized money-market fund on Arc, while Circle is working with DTCC on bringing DTC-custodied assets onto the network. The DTCC integration is planned to begin in the second half of 2027.
Arc is also launching with major crypto and DeFi applications.Uniswap, Aave, Morpho and other protocols are participating from day one, bringing trading, lending and other onchain financial activity to the new network.
Circle said more than 100 applications are available at launch across payments, trading, lending, asset management, wallets, custody and other areas.
This gives Arc a mix of traditional financial institutions and crypto-native applications from its first day on public mainnet.
Built for stablecoins and tokenized assets
The network supports USDC and EURC, while Circle’s StableFX infrastructure is designed to enable 24/7 foreign-exchange activity and settlement between different stablecoins.
Circle also plans to support tokenized real-world assets, including money-market funds and other financial instruments that can be traded, lent against or used as collateral on the network.
This puts Arc in a different category from a general-purpose blockchain. Circle is building the network specifically around financial activity and the movement of tokenized value.
Arc is being designed not only for people and financial institutions but also for AI agents that can carry out economic tasks. Circle’s Agent Stack provides tools for developers to create policy-controlled wallets and allow AI agents to make payments and perform other onchain actions.
Arc is intended to provide the underlying settlement layer for these transactions, allowing agents to interact with financial applications and move value programmatically.Circle is also developing AgentVM, which is designed to allow agents to work with sensitive data while maintaining an onchain record that applications can use to verify results.
A new blockchain for Circle’s USDC strategy
Arc expands Circle’s role from stablecoin issuer to blockchain infrastructure provider.
USDC is already supported across dozens of blockchain networks, but Arc gives Circle a network designed specifically around the stablecoin and the financial applications that use it.
With USDC serving as the native gas token and major financial institutions participating as validators and builders, Circle is attempting to create a blockchain where stablecoin payments, tokenized assets and traditional financial markets can operate on the same infrastructure.
For Circle, Arc is therefore more than another blockchain launch. It is a new settlement layer built around the company’s broader vision for internet-native finance.
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