SBI's Dual-Rail Strategy in Focus as Arc Blockchain Launches

Circle's Arc blockchain has launched its public mainnet on September 16, 2026, with 11 founding validators from traditional finance.

SBI Group, Ripple's largest external shareholder since 2016, is among them. SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao estimates the value of their stake at $4 billion.

This puts SBI in a unique position: it is both one of the biggest outside owners of a company built around XRP and RLUSD, and a founding operator on rival chain Arc, which makes USDC its native gas asset.

Arc's Layer 1 blockchain runs the same smart-contract environment as Ethereum but with USDC as the native gas asset. Transaction costs are quoted in dollars instead of a volatile network token, making it more appealing to institutions.