Circle Arc Mainnet Launches with BlackRock and Visa as Validators
Circle has launched its Arc Layer 1 blockchain mainnet on September 16. Over 100 applications, including Aave V4 lending markets and Uniswap, went live on day one with support from more than 100 institutions and ecosystem builders.
The mainnet uses USDC for gas fees, supports sub-second transaction finality, and is EVM-compatible. Founding validator nodes include institutions such as BlackRock, DTCC, ICE, Mastercard, and Visa, which will join the network in phases.
Circle has completed the genesis minting of 10 billion ARC tokens in the United States, but emphasized this is a technical milestone and does not constitute a commitment to a public offering. The company plans to transition the network from PoA to PoS by 2027 and will launch its DTC-held asset tokenization service at that time.