Circle’s Arc Blockchain Goes Live With USDC as Native Gas

Circle has officially launched Arc, its Layer-1 blockchain designed for stablecoin-based finance, with USDC serving as the network’s native gas asset and transaction finality reaching sub-second speeds. The network went live on September 16 with more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders, according to Circle.

highlighted the launch in an X post, Coin Bureau noting that Arc’s founding validator cohort includes major financial institutions such as BlackRock, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Visa and Mastercard.

Arc Targets Stablecoin and Institutional Finance

Circle has positioned Arc as an “Economic OS” for stablecoin finance, tokenized assets and real-time value transfer. The network was designed specifically around financial applications, with USDC used for gas fees instead of requiring users to maintain a separate volatile native asset for transaction costs.

Circle has also described Arc as an EVM-compatible blockchain, allowing developers to use established Ethereum development frameworks and tooling. Its architecture includes deterministic sub-second settlement finality and an opt-in privacy system intended for financial applications.

The mainnet launch follows a period in which Arc operated with more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders. Circle announced the network’s public mainnet launch date as September 16 earlier this year.

BlackRock, DTCC, Visa and Mastercard Among Validators

Circle previously announced a founding validator group comprising BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation and Visa, alongside Circle.

The validator structure places established financial and payment institutions among the entities responsible for operating and securing the network.

Circle has separately disclosed planned integrations involving several of these institutions. BlackRock is expected to deploy its BUIDL tokenized fund on Arc, while DTCC is working with Circle on tokenization of assets held by The Depository Trust Company.

Uniswap and Aave Among Early Protocol Participants

The launch also includes participation from established decentralized finance protocols. The Block reported that Aave, Morpho and Uniswap were among protocols available from day one of the public mainnet.

Their involvement places Arc alongside both institutional financial infrastructure and existing decentralized applications. Circle has said the network is intended to support stablecoin payments, tokenized assets and broader financial-market applications rather than serving solely as a settlement network for USDC.

The launch also follows Circle’s earlier public testnet phase, during which the company introduced integrations across payments, stablecoins, tokenized assets, developer infrastructure and other blockchain services.

Arc Moves From Private Mainnet to Public Network

Arc’s transition to public mainnet marks the next stage of a project Circle first introduced as an open Layer-1 blockchain for stablecoin-native applications. Its core architecture combines USDC-denominated gas fees, sub-second finality and infrastructure designed around institutional participation.

With the September 16 mainnet launch now complete, Arc’s next phase will center on the applications and financial infrastructure being developed by its institutional and ecosystem participants.

Writer: Victoria Hale
Technology & Blockchain Writer

Victoria Hale writes about blockchain technology, digital infrastructure, and the intersection of emerging technologies with finance. Her articles explore how new protocols and systems are shaping the evolving digital economy.

She prioritises clarity and accuracy when explaining technical developments to a general audience.