Circle Unveils Arc Mainnet With BlackRock, Visa Among Block Producers

Circle has launched its mainnet for Arc, a Layer 1 blockchain where transaction fees are paid in USDC and blocks are produced by a fixed set of regulated financial institutions. The founding validator cohort includes BlackRock, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Galaxy, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, Visa, and Worldpay alongside Circle.

The network counts more than 100 applications and over 100 institutional and ecosystem builders live on day one. Arc's testnet processed over 700 million transactions, and the developer program has over 75,000 members. Fees on Arc are denominated in USDC with 18 decimals, and there is no volatile gas token.

Aave and Morpho supply Arc's lending markets at launch, with Aave deploying a V4 market and several other firms supporting it through curated vault strategies and risk oversight. Trading runs through Aero, fomo, and Uniswap, while Anchorage, BitGo, and Zodia Custody provide custody services.