Milestones
- Arc announcedAug 2025Complete.
- Public testnetOct 2025Complete.
- Mainnet launch16 Sep 2026Complete.
- Broaden validator set and ecosystemNowCurrent milestone.
Most important updates
- 24d ago
- 5 Aug 2026
- 28 Oct 2025
- 12 Aug 2025
- Aug 2025
Upcoming
- 2026BlackRock BUIDL fund deployment on Arc (next)
- 2027DTCC and Circle aim to tokenise DTC-custodied assets on Arc, starting in the second half of 2027
Current obstacles
- Approved validators onlyKnown institutions help with compliance but make censorship easier than open staking would.
- Winning liquidityA new chain must pull money and users away from Ethereum, Solana and others.
Physics limits
- Voting traffic grows with validatorsMalachite is a Tendermint-style protocol: every validator votes twice per block, so messages grow with the square of the set. Sub-second finality works with dozens of validators, not thousands.
- Finality can't beat network delayTwo voting rounds must cross the network before a block is final. With validators on several continents, round trips of 100–300 ms put a floor under finality.
- Privacy fights public checkingHidden amounts can't be checked by everyone directly. Cryptographic proofs restore checking at a computing cost, and auditor view keys bring back a trusted party.
How it works
Validators
Known institutions run the chain
Approved validators propose and vote on blocks. A block is final once two-thirds sign off, so it can't be reversed.
Fees
Fees in dollars
Fees are charged in USDC, so businesses know their costs without holding a volatile token.
Privacy
Optional confidentiality
Users can hide amounts or counterparties from the public, while regulators can still audit.
Spec sheet
| Spec | Arc |
|---|---|
| Gas token | USDCR (reported) |
| Finality | Deterministic, sub-secondR (reported) |
| Consensus engine | Malachite (Tendermint-style BFT)R (reported) |
| Execution | EVM-compatibleR (reported) |
| USDC in circulation at launch | ~$74BR (reported) |
R reported by the company
Papers & demos
- Aug 2025blogArc litepaper (opens arc.io)Outlined Arc's USDC fees, Malachite voting engine and privacy design.
Update log
Wed 16 Sep
- Major: PressSoftware
Wed 5 Aug
- Major: PressPartnership
Tue 28 Oct 2025
- Major: PressTest
Tue 12 Aug 2025
- Minor: PressCommercial
Aug 2025
- Major: BlogSoftware
About Circle
Circle
USDC stablecoin, CCTP, Arc L1
Issuer of USDC, the second-largest dollar stablecoin, backed by cash and short-term US Treasuries, mostly in a BlackRock-managed fund. Listed on the NYSE in June 2025. Launched Arc, its own blockchain built for stablecoins, in Sept 2026.
- NYSE IPO on 5 June 2025. The GENIUS Act set US federal stablecoin rules the next month.
- Arc mainnet launched 16 Sept 2026 with USDC for fees. BlackRock and Visa are among its first validators.
- CCTP moves USDC between chains by destroying it on one and creating it on the other, with no wrapped copies.
- Founded
- 201313 yrs
- Headquarters
- United States
- Status
- Public
- Listed
- CRCL (opens google.com)NYSE
- Valuation
- public
- Works in
- CryptoStablecoins & payments
- Coverage
- 2 programs · 12 updateslatest 24d agochecked 25 Sep
- Suppliers
- BNY (opens bny.com)
- People
- Jeremy Allaire (opens en.wikipedia.org)Co-founder, Chairman & CEOHeath Tarbert (opens en.wikipedia.org)President