Circle, the company behind the USD Coin (USDC), has launched the public testnet of its new blockchain, Arc, marking a major step in its plan to bring traditional finance onchain.
The testnet, which went live with over 100 global partners, includes heavyweights such as BlackRock, Visa, HSBC, AWS, Anthropic, and Goldman Sachs.
Arc is designed to become what Circle calls “the economic operating system of the internet.” The new blockchain aims to merge the reliability of traditional finance with the speed and transparency of digital assets.
Arc is not just another blockchain. Circle built it as a Layer 1 chain focused entirely on financial use cases, from tokenized funds and cross-border payments to foreign exchange (FX) settlements.
Unlike blockchains that rely on volatile native tokens, Arc uses USDC as its gas token. That means every transaction fee is denominated in U.S. dollars, keeping costs predictable for enterprises and developers.
Circle says transaction times are under one second, offering near-instant settlement, a critical feature for institutions managing large financial flows.
Arc’s design is all about enterprise-grade infrastructure. It supports everything from global payments and capital markets to lending and foreign exchange.
According to Circle, the network allows businesses to conduct onchain transactions with fixed USD-based fees, eliminating the uncertainty of fluctuating gas prices seen on Ethereum and other blockchains.
It also introduces optional privacy controls, giving regulated entities a way to transact securely without exposing sensitive financial data on the public ledger.
Circle’s vision for Arc is already drawing broad institutional interest. Partners include:
In total, more than 100 organizations are collaborating on the testnet phase. This early backing signals that Arc is positioning itself as the default infrastructure layer for real-world finance.
Beyond USDC, Arc will enable the issuance of local currency stablecoins, allowing countries and companies to tokenize their own fiat currencies.
Participants in this initiative include JPYC, SBI Holdings, Forte, and Coins.ph, each working to build regional stablecoin ecosystems on Arc.
Circle believes this multi-currency framework will pave the way for seamless cross-border settlements and foreign exchange operations between stablecoins, all within Arc’s sub-second, low-cost environment.
The project’s ecosystem already has strong backing from major crypto platforms. Coinbase, Kraken, Robinhood, and Galaxy Digital are among the exchanges supporting Arc.
On the infrastructure side, integrations with Alchemy, Chainlink, LayerZero, and MetaMask ensure developers can build directly on Arc without needing to reinvent existing tools.
This combination of institutional and developer participation sets Arc apart from most new blockchains, which often struggle to attract both audiences simultaneously.
While the network is currently managed by Circle, the company has confirmed that Arc will gradually transition to community governance.
In its testnet announcement, Circle said it plans to open validator participation over time, allowing independent organizations to secure and govern the network.
This phased approach mirrors Circle’s broader philosophy: start with reliability and compliance, then evolve toward decentralization as adoption grows.
Despite the fanfare, not everyone is convinced. Some in the crypto community argue that Arc’s private structure limits its potential.
One critic compared it to Macromedia, calling it “a solution searching for a problem.” The skeptic’s view is that a private blockchain has no purpose in an industry defined by openness and permissionless innovation.
Still, Circle’s institutional strategy appears deliberate. By starting with trusted partners and familiar financial rails, the company hopes to bridge the gap between traditional finance and public blockchain networks.
Circle calls Arc a long-term project, one meant to anchor the future of onchain financial activity. The goal is to make global payments, trading, and lending instant, transparent, and dollar-denominated.
The company says this will help move real-world assets (RWAs) and institutional money onto the blockchain, creating a unified financial system where value moves as easily as data.
If successful, Arc could become the underlying infrastructure that powers global finance in the digital era. But if skeptics are right, it may struggle to find a use case beyond a small group of early adopters.
The Arc blockchain represents Circle’s boldest move yet, a purpose-built financial network supported by the biggest names in banking, asset management, and tech.
Whether it becomes the backbone of digital finance or fades into another corporate blockchain experiment will depend on real adoption and open participation.
For now, Arc’s testnet is live, and the world is watching as Circle tries to build what it calls the economic operating system of the internet.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
Follow us on Twitter @themerklehash to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, and Metaverse news!
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has brought renewed scrutiny to Axiom Exchange after publishing findings that detail…
Eric Trump has announced a sharp increase in Bitcoin reserves at American Bitcoin, revealing that…
A wallet linked to the Pump core treasury has transferred 11.2 billion PUMP, valued at…
Richard Blumenthal has formally launched a Senate investigation into Binance over reports that as much…
The narrative around stablecoins has shifted dramatically over the past few years. What began as…
Digital payments and stablecoin issuer Circle delivered a standout fourth quarter, reporting $770 million in…