Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin (over $74 billion in circulating supply), has launched the public mainnet of Arc, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for financial markets, payments, and AI-powered economic activity. The protocol debuts with over 100 institutional and ecosystem participants, including BlackRock, Mastercard, Visa, Standard Chartered, Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. A notable feature is the integration of USDC as the main gas token: transaction fees can be paid directly in USDC, offering predictability absent on most other networks. Circle also minted the full initial supply of 10 billion ARC tokens this week, without confirming an imminent public launch. The transition to a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism is planned for 2027.
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