Circle Arc

Circle Arc is an open Layer-1 blockchain—the foundational base layer of a network that processes and settles transactions without needing another chain—purpose-built by Circle to support stablecoin-native finance. It is designed to bridge the gap between traditional institutional finance and the efficiency of digital assets, providing a secure, high-performance environment for moving value.

How Arc Works

At its core, Arc is built to be familiar to developers while offering unique advantages for financial applications. It is EVM-compatible, meaning it supports standard Ethereum development tools like Solidity, Foundry, and Hardhat, allowing teams to build and deploy applications with ease.

A standout feature is its use of USDC as the native gas token. In most blockchains, transaction fees are paid in a volatile native cryptocurrency, making costs unpredictable. On Arc, fees are denominated in US dollars, providing the cost certainty that businesses require for financial planning.

To maintain network security and speed, Arc utilizes the Malachite BFT consensus engine. BFT, or Byzantine Fault Tolerance, is a mechanism that ensures the network reaches agreement even if some participants act maliciously or fail. This architecture allows Arc to achieve deterministic sub-second settlement finality, meaning transactions are confirmed and irreversible in less than a second.

The Institutional Validator Set

The integrity of the Arc network is maintained by a founding cohort of 12 major global institutions. This group includes Circle, BlackRock, DTCC, Visa, Mastercard, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Galaxy, Global Payments, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, and Sumitomo Corporation.

By involving these established entities as validators, Arc creates a trusted environment for institutional activity. These participants help secure the network, ensuring that the infrastructure meets the high standards required for global financial operations.

What You Can Build

Arc is designed to handle complex financial workflows, including a built-in institutional FX engine for 24/7 peer-to-peer settlement. It also offers opt-in privacy features, allowing for selectively shielded balances and transactions to help institutions meet regulatory compliance requirements.

Consider the collaboration between Circle and the DTCC to tokenize assets. In this scenario, a traditional security held in custody by the DTCC is represented as a digital token on the Arc blockchain. Because Arc offers sub-second finality and dollar-denominated fees, the DTCC can settle the transfer of these tokenized assets instantly and predictably, moving away from the multi-day settlement cycles common in legacy systems.

How Arc Fits the Stablecoin Landscape

Arc is deeply integrated with the broader Circle platform, including support for stablecoins like USDC and EURC, as well as cross-chain transfer protocols. This integration allows for seamless movement of liquidity across different financial environments.

With built-in compliance features like opt-in privacy and a trusted validator set, Arc provides the technical foundation for regulated stablecoin operations under frameworks like the GENIUS Act. Its predictable, dollar-denominated fees and sub-second finality also make it well-suited to power agentic AI financial agents, which require reliable, instant settlement to execute autonomous transactions on behalf of users.