Circle Launches Arc: Wall Street Joins New ‘Economic OS’

Circle debuts Arc mainnet with BlackRock and Mastercard as validators. The new 'Economic OS' uses USDC for gas fees and targets institutional settlement.

The network has launched with over 100 institutional and ecosystem participants, featuring some of the biggest names in traditional finance participating directly in its validation.

Wall Street Enters the Infrastructure Directly

Arc begins operations with a Layer 1 network model that is unusual for the industry. Validators are not anonymous operators, but rather a pre-selected group of major financial institutions.

Beyond Circle, the founding validators include BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, Visa, and Worldpay (now part of Global Payments).

This structure ensures that the companies managing payments, capital, and infrastructure in traditional markets will also participate in the operation of the blockchain itself.

However, this model involves a significant trade-off. While Arc is a public network for applications, validation is “permissioned” at launch, meaning access to run a node is restricted.

USDC Becomes the Fuel for Arc

The architecture is built entirely around stablecoins. Instead of requiring users to hold a separate crypto asset for network fees, “gas” fees are paid directly in USDC.

Arc offers sub-second transaction finality, a critical feature for payments, foreign exchange operations, and the settlement of financial assets. The network is EVM-compatible, allowing existing applications to be ported over without being rebuilt from scratch.

Circle highlighted several core features of the network:

• USDC for network fees, eliminating the need for a volatile native token.
• Sub-second settlement speeds.
• USDC, EURC, and tokenized RWAs (Real World Assets) on a single infrastructure.
• 24/7 currency settlement via StableFX.
• Optional confidential transactions, a feature currently under development.
• Infrastructure for AI agents to autonomously perform payments and financial operations.

Uniswap and Aave Arrive on Day One

Circle did not launch Arc as an empty network. More than 100 applications and over 100 institutional and ecosystem participants were integrated by the time of the public debut.

Uniswap is among the protocols building trading and liquidity infrastructure, while Aave and Morpho provide the lending layer. Major exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and OKX are providing access to the ecosystem, with Fireblocks, BitGo, and Anchorage handling institutional custody.

The larger play, however, involves traditional assets. BlackRock is expected to deploy its tokenized fund, BUIDL, on Arc. Furthermore, Circle is collaborating with the DTCC to tokenize assets held by the Depository Trust Company, with integration planned for the second half of 2027.

Circle Bets on Infrastructure Beyond USDC

Arc marks a shift in Circle’s role. The company is no longer just a stablecoin issuer; it now controls the blockchain infrastructure where USDC can be used for payments, trading, lending, and the settlement of tokenized assets.

Circle describes Arc as an “Economic OS,” or an economic operating system for the internet, aiming to bridge traditional financial institutions with on-chain markets.

The company also took a step toward its own network economy this week by creating an initial supply of 10 billion ARC tokens. These are intended for future network security and governance. However, Circle explicitly noted that there is no final decision on a public launch for the ARC token yet. In the meantime, Arc fees will continue to be paid in USDC.