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Circle just did something that most Layer 1 blockchains spend years trying to accomplish. It launched Arc, an EVM-compatible blockchain purpose-built for financial markets, and within its first week the network is already tapping into the $74 billion USDC supply flowing across more than 30 chains.
The mainnet went live on September 16, and the opening numbers tell a story of institutional muscle flexing. Circle deployed $649 million in USDC and $7 million in EURC on Arc at launch, backed by an ecosystem of over 100 participants that includes some of the biggest names in traditional finance.
What Arc actually is
Arc features sub-second transaction finality and target fees of about $0.01 per transaction. USDC serves as the native gas and settlement asset, which means every transaction on the network runs through Circle’s stablecoin rather than a volatile native token.
The launch roster includes BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard, and DTCC. On the DeFi side, Arc integrated with Aave, Morpho, and Uniswap from day one.
The ARC token and its $3B valuation
Circle minted 10 billion ARC tokens during the genesis event, splitting them across three buckets. The ecosystem development fund received 60%, Circle itself retained 25%, and long-term reserves account for the remaining 15%.
A $222 million presale preceded the launch, pricing the ARC token supply at a $3 billion fully diluted valuation. The ARC token is designed to eventually serve governance, utility, and coordination functions across the network. Circle has outlined plans to transition Arc to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism in 2027, at which point ARC tokens would play a central role in network validation. Until then, the network’s transaction layer will continue to run on USDC.
USDC’s broader position
The total circulating supply of USDC sat at approximately $74.22 billion as of September 14, just before Arc’s launch. Arc’s cross-chain infrastructure supports the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol, which enables USDC movement across more than 30 networks. The network also supports over 22 fiat-linked stablecoins, positioning Arc as a broader multi-currency settlement layer.
Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s CEO, has described Arc as a pivotal advancement in the company’s trajectory.
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