Circle has officially launched Arc mainnet on September 16, 2026, bringing its USDC-powered Layer 1 blockchain online with institutional validators, more than 20 fiat stablecoins, and tokenized funds available from launch. The network launched with 11 institutional validators including BlackRock, DTCC, Visa, Mastercard, and Standard Chartered globally, with Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire describing this as the most important product introduction since USDC. According to Circle's official announcement, Arc uses USDC as its native gas asset with deterministic settlement in under one second and supports Ethereum Virtual Machine applications, allowing developers to use Solidity contracts and familiar Ethereum development tools. The public opening follows an Arc testnet that processed more than 700 million transactions, with Circle's second-quarter SEC filing recording 502 million cumulative testnet transactions and 2.8 million transacting wallets as of June 30.
Arc's day-one asset list includes 22 fiat-linked stablecoins: USDC, EURC, AUDD, AUDF, BRLA, CADD, CHFAU, EURAU, GBPA, JPYC, KRW1, MXNB, QCAD, SEKAU, TRYB, wARS, wBRL, wCLP, wCOP, wMXN, wPEN and ZARU. Circle StableFX is live on Arc for programmable foreign-exchange activity across more than 20 fully reserved stablecoins using atomic payment-versus-payment settlement. Tokenized financial products available natively include BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized by Securitize, Circle's USYC, and Janus Henderson's JAAA and JTRSY products, with these assets interacting with lending, trading and collateral markets through Arc applications. Access restrictions still apply to individual products, with USYC available only to non-U.S. persons under Securities Act definition. Circle introduced cirBTC on Arc as a programmable representation of Bitcoin, convertible 1:1 from BTC, cbBTC or WBTC without conversion fees.
Coinbase has partnered with Moov to embed stablecoin acceptance and settlement into systems used by more than 1,000 US community banks and credit unions, announced on September 10, 2026. According to CNBC, the partnership allows banks to offer stablecoin rails through software they already use without building their own crypto stack or hiring blockchain engineers. As reported by Quartz, Ryan VanGrack, Coinbase's vice chair and head of corporate affairs, stated that community banks and credit unions have watched customers use digital assets for years, and the partnership gives them regulated infrastructure embedded in their existing systems. Wade Arnold, Moov's co-founder and CEO, noted that business customers are already being asked to accept stablecoins but have been going outside their main financial institution to do it. The partnership comes as community banking groups have had one central objection during the CLARITY Act fight: payment stablecoins could pull deposits away from small local banks. On September 11, the Independent Community Bankers of America said it and state and national banking associations urged senators to strengthen the bill's restrictions on stablecoin interest and yield.
Arc's mainnet uses chain ID 5042 and provides EVM compatibility giving developers access to Ethereum-based tooling without requiring them to rewrite Solidity applications for a separate programming environment. Circle has connected Arc with Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol and Circle Gateway, extending asset movement and liquidity access across more than 20 supported blockchain networks. The company says developers can use burn-and-mint and lock-and-mint infrastructure to distribute supported assets between Arc and other chains. On the application side, Aave and Morpho are supporting Arc's lending markets from launch, while Aero and Uniswap provide trading infrastructure. Binance, Bybit, Kraken, KuCoin, OKX, Upbit and several other exchanges are listed as live access points, with Circle stating that Coinbase is expected to become available later. Circle's launch release cited Dune data showing USDC accounted for 98.8% of agent-driven transaction volume measured in the referenced dataset.
Circle completed the genesis mint of 10 billion ARC tokens this week, though the token is not yet available to the public and the mint does not represent a commitment to publicly launch it. According to Circle's SEC filing, the company had agreed to sell 807.5 million ARC tokens to institutional investors at $0.30 each, producing approximately $242.2 million in gross contracted proceeds. The private sale implied a $3 billion fully diluted network valuation, with Circle having received $222 million by June 30 and booking the presale proceeds as deferred revenue. The ARC token whitepaper describes the token as a potential coordination asset for network security, governance and other functions if Arc moves from Proof of Authority to Proof of Stake, with Circle currently pointing to 2027 for exploring that transition. The company states that the genesis mint is not a commitment to publicly launch ARC, with purchasers facing lockups lasting at least one year after Arc transitions to Proof of Stake or delegated Proof of Stake, with further transfer restrictions potentially extending until four years after that transition.
Circle faces a critical week with two major Washington events scheduled just one day apart. The Senate is set to vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) on Tuesday afternoon, requiring 60 senators to advance the procedural vote. The Federal Open Market Committee is simultaneously set to announce its rate decision on Wednesday, with futures markets expecting a quarter-point rate hike. As reported by CoinDesk, if the bill fails, sponsors will need to bring the legislation back to the floor after the midterms, pushing the market structure framework to 2027. The Senate Banking Committee passed its own bill on May 15, 2025, with two Democrats voting for it, but stablecoin, rewards, ethics rules for officials, crypto assets, decentralized finance (DeFi) liability, and anti-money laundering (AML) rules remain unresolved. Before leaving for its August recess, Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to move HR 3633 on August 8, with the motion becoming eligible for a vote under Senate procedure at 2:15 pm ET on Tuesday.
