Circle launches Arc mainnet with USDC as gas

Circle announced the public launch of Arc, its USDC‑powered Layer 1 blockchain, on September 16. The network goes live with institutional validators, a stablecoin‑denominated fee model and a suite of tokenized assets ready for use.

Key network features

• USDC is used as the native gas asset, eliminating the need for users to hold a separate volatile token for transaction fees.
• Deterministic settlement is achieved in under one second, providing sub‑second finality without probabilistic confirmation periods.
• The chain is EVM‑compatible (chain ID 5042), allowing developers to deploy Solidity contracts and use familiar Ethereum tooling.
• Arc operates under a permissioned Proof‑of‑Authority model at launch, with a planned transition to Proof‑of‑Stake or delegated Proof‑of‑Stake in the future.

Validator consortium

Eleven institutional validators are part of the founding cohort, including BlackRock, DTCC, Visa, Mastercard, Standard Chartered, Galaxy, ICE, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Sumitomo Corporation, and Worldpay (Global Payments).

Asset ecosystem at launch

Arc supports twenty‑two fiat‑linked stablecoins, such as USDC, EURC, AUDD, CADD, GBPA, JPYC, KRW1, MXNB, and others. Tokenized funds and products available from day one include:

• BlackRock’s BUIDL (tokenized by Securitize)
• Circle’s USYC (restricted to non‑U.S. persons)
• Janus Henderson’s JAAA and JTRSY
• cirBTC, a programmable 1:1 representation of Bitcoin

Developer and application tooling

Circle provides an “Agent Stack” for policy‑controlled wallets and USDC nanopayments, an “Arc Portal” for creating agent wallets with spending limits, and “Arc Studio” for generating smart‑contract components from natural‑language prompts. App Kits include an Onramp Kit (fiat‑to‑USDC via debit cards and Apple Pay) and an Earn Kit (integrating lending protocols such as Aave and Morpho).

Liquidity and cross‑chain connectivity

Arc is linked to Circle’s Cross‑Chain Transfer Protocol and Circle Gateway, enabling asset movement across more than twenty blockchain networks via burn‑and‑mint or lock‑and‑mint mechanisms. Exchanges listed as live on launch include Binance, Bybit, Kraken, KuCoin, OKX and Upbit, with Coinbase expected later.

Token supply and private sale

Circle minted ten billion ARC tokens at launch but has not made a public token available. A private sale of 807.5 million ARC tokens was agreed at $0.30 each, generating $242.2 million in contracted proceeds, of which $222 million had been received by June 30. Purchasers are subject to lock‑up periods of at least one year after any transition to Proof‑of‑Stake, with possible extensions up to four years.