Circle's Arc Blockchain Launches with Major Payments Support

Circle has unveiled its purpose-built blockchain, Arc, which is set to launch in September. The platform has already gained significant support from leading payments organizations, including Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, MoneyGram, Standard Chartered, and Intercontinental Exchange.

The aim for Arc is to become the primary blockchain infrastructure for organizations, but achieving this will be a challenging task in a crowded market.

According to Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research, 'The names behind Arc give it instant credibility, but does not automatically mean institutional adoption.' He also noted that 'the real test is whether they can put meaningful payment, settlement, and even tokenized asset volume on the network.'

Circle already has a solid foundation in place due to the success of its USDC stablecoin. The company has expanded aggressively in recent years, including receiving approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a federally chartered trust bank and launching the Circle Payments Network.

The acquisition of IBM's extensive blockchain portfolio is also significant, with more than 680 patent families and roughly 1,000 issued patents worldwide.