Circle Launches Arc Mainnet with Major Finance Validators Including BlackRock and Visa

Circle opened the public mainnet of its Arc blockchain on September 16, 2026. The network’s initial validator set consists of 11 institutions, most of which are established financial firms.

Founding Validators

• BlackRock
• Visa
• Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC)
• Galaxy
• Global Payments
• Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
• Mastercard
• MoneyGram
• SBI
• Standard Chartered
• Sumitomo Corporation

Circle itself also runs a validator node. Notably, the cohort lacks independent node operators or crypto‑native infrastructure firms, underscoring Circle’s focus on institutional customers.

Arc’s Technical Design

Arc is an EVM‑compatible layer‑1 blockchain that uses USDC as its native gas token, meaning transaction fees are quoted in U.S. dollars rather than a volatile native token. The network is described as purpose‑built for stablecoin finance, offering sub‑second settlement finality, an integrated stablecoin foreign‑exchange engine, and optional privacy controls.

Funding and Early Ecosystem

Circle raised $222 million by selling 740 million ARC tokens at $0.30 each, valuing the project at $3 billion fully diluted. Investors included BlackRock, Andreessen Horowitz and Apollo. More than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders contributed to the private mainnet.

Day‑one applications span decentralized finance and payments, including Aave, Uniswap, Morpho, Aerodrome, FalconX, GSR, Keyrock, Rain, Thunes, Wirex, Kraken, MetaMask, Binance Wallet, Fireblocks, Ledger and Upbit.

Cross‑Chain Stakeholder Dynamics

SBI, Ripple’s largest external shareholder with roughly a 9 % stake valued near $4 billion, is a validator on Arc while also operating the XRP Ledger’s RLUSD remittance corridor. Mastercard similarly validates Arc and supports RLUSD settlement across multiple blockchains, including the XRP Ledger.

Market Context

• RLUSD supply reached a record $2.44 billion, split between Ethereum (~$1.37 billion) and the XRP Ledger (~$1.05 billion).
• The XRP Ledger’s total stablecoin market peaked at $1.02 billion in July before closing the month at $798.4 million.
• Circle’s USYC tokenization volume topped $3 billion, while BlackRock’s BUIDL platform holds about $2.4 billion in assets.

Roadmap

• Live: Public mainnet, USDC‑denominated gas, initial application suite.
• Upcoming: BlackRock’s BUIDL deployment on Arc.
• H2 2027: DTCC tokenization of DTC‑custodied assets on Arc.