Arc, Circle's EVM-compatible Layer 1 for finance and stablecoin use, approaches mainnet launch in 2026 with $222M private sale backed by a16z, BlackRock, ICE, and Apollo.
AI & Agents ·
Circle's Arc, an EVM-compatible Layer 1 designed for finance and stablecoin applications, secured $222 million in a private sale at a $3 billion fully diluted valuation, with backing from a16z Crypto, BlackRock, ICE, and Apollo. The inclusion of traditional capital markets participants alongside crypto investors underscores Arc's positioning around real-world assets and institutional settlement infrastructure.
Arc was developed by Circle, the company behind USDC, and has progressed through multiple testnet milestones since its announcement in August 2025. The public testnet launched in October 2025 with over 100 participants across banking, payments, DeFi, custody, and infrastructure segments, and by February 2026 had processed 166 million transactions. Node code was open-sourced in April 2026, and Uniswap announced mainnet deployment for Arc in June 2026, with the ARC token whitepaper and private sale details revealed in May.
Circle has indicated a mainnet launch target within 2026, though an exact date remains unconfirmed. Potential liquidity inflows depend partly on ecosystem readiness—market makers including Wintermute and Cumberland are positioned in the ecosystem, while lending protocols such as Aave and Curve are present on testnet—and on the scope of incentive programs, with 60 percent of token supply allocated to ecosystem initiatives, though airdrop specifics have not been formally announced.