- Circle launched Arc mainnet on Wednesday with more than 100 partners.
- BlackRock DTCC ICE Mastercard Visa and Standard Chartered are among the founding validators.
- Circle minted 10 billion ARC tokens and said this is not a commitment to a public launch.
Circle Arc went live on Wednesday as Circle introduced the public mainnet for its Layer 1 blockchain focused on payments trading and what it calls agentic economic activity. The launch started with more than 100 institutional and ecosystem partners, while a group that includes BlackRock DTCC ICE Mastercard Visa Standard Chartered and SBI Group joined as founding validators. Circle said USDC is built into the network as the gas token, with around $74 billion in circulation. At the same time, the company completed a genesis mint of 10 billion ARC tokens, while stating that this technical step does not mean a public token launch has been decided.
Circle Arc mainnet goes live
Circle described Arc as a Layer 1 blockchain designed for payments trading and confidential financial activity on a public chain. In a press release, chief executive Jeremy Allaire said the launch was the most significant in Circle’s history since USDC itself. The company launched the public mainnet on Wednesday after previously running a testnet that began last year.
According to Circle, the testnet processed more than 700 million transactions in under a year. The company also said USDC accounts for 98.8% of agent-driven transaction volume, citing Dune. Circle added that the chain includes agent wallets spending limits and nanopayments as part of its initial setup.
Validators and network access on Circle Arc
Circle said the validator set is permissioned and presented that model as a benefit for institutions. It said a defined governance perimeter could help banks use a public blockchain for treasury trading and confidential payments. The founding validator group includes BlackRock the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation ICE Mastercard MoneyGram SBI Group Standard Chartered Sumitomo Visa Worldpay and Galaxy.
The network also launched with broad access across financial and crypto firms. Circle said BNY HSBC Societe Generale and State Street are among the banks with access. It also named Aave and Morpho for lending Uniswap Aero and fomo for trading and Binance Kraken Bybit and OKX as routes into the network with Coinbase set to follow.
ARC token mint and technical roadmap
Circle completed the genesis mint of ARC this week and created all 10 billion tokens. It said this made the company the first publicly traded company to mint a network token for a new Layer 1. Circle added that the mint should be viewed as a technical action rather than a decision to make ARC publicly available.
The company said the mint is a step toward a possible move from proof of authority to proof of stake in 2027. Earlier, Circle had already raised $222 million in an Arc token presale at a $3 billion valuation. The earlier presale included a $75 million investment from Andreessen Horowitz, with BlackRock and Apollo Funds also participating.
Payments collateral and security features
Circle said BlackRock’s BUIDL and Circle’s USYC provide tokenized collateral on the network. The company also highlighted the involvement of payment and financial infrastructure names such as Visa Mastercard Worldpay and MoneyGram as part of the initial ecosystem around the chain.
On the technical side, Circle said Arc supports optional post-quantum signatures, with broader protections still in development. It paired those features with the chain’s permissioned validator approach and its governance structure as part of the pitch for institutional use.
Conclusion
Circle Arc entered the market with a public mainnet launch backed by more than 100 institutional and ecosystem partners and a validator list led by major finance and payments groups. Circle tied USDC closely to the chain by using it as the gas token and said the network is built for payments trading and agent-driven activity. The company also minted 10 billion ARC tokens but stressed that this does not commit it to a public token launch. With access for banks lending venues trading protocols and exchange onramps already outlined, Circle Arc is starting with a structure aimed at institutional participation and a possible proof of stake transition in 2027.
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