Circle launches Arc mainnet, a USDC-native Layer-1 with 100+ institutional and crypto partners including BlackRock, Visa, and DTCC as validators, with Aave, Uniswap, and Aerodrome live from day one.
DeFi & Yields ·
Circle's Arc blockchain processed 7.83 million transactions on its first day following launch, yet only about 624,000 USDC transfers occurred across the chain's entire existence, signaling minimal adoption of its core payments use case. Memecoin speculation dominated instead, with tokens like TOLLY, LONG, and COOL falling 56% to 77% from launch highs as day-one decentralized exchange volume reached roughly $82 million. A company executive's promotion of a memecoin via AI-generated image drew approximately 1 million views and sparked accusations that Circle was artificially stimulating token activity to populate its network.