Written by: Xiaobing

On September 16, Circle will officially launch the Arc public mainnet. The list of genesis validators for this chain reads more like a directory of global financial infrastructure: BlackRock, DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation), ICE (parent company of the NYSE), Visa, Mastercard, Standard Chartered, MoneyGram, Galaxy, Sumitomo Corporation, SBI Group, Global Payments.

None of them is a crypto-native project.

This is not a coincidence. From the very beginning, Arc was not designed to answer the question, "How many L1s does the crypto world need?" It answers another question: When stablecoins become a global payment pipeline, who will provide the underlying operating system for this pipeline?

Circle’s answer is to create one.

What is Arc?

Arc is a Layer 1 blockchain built by Circle, core positioned as the economic operating system of the internet (Economic OS), distinguishable from the vast majority of L1 projects on the market by three technical characteristics:

USDC as the native gas token. This is the most fundamental design decision of Arc. All on-chain transaction fees are denominated in dollars and paid with USDC. For traditional financial institutions, this means transaction costs are predictable and accounted for in profit and loss statements, unaffected by fluctuations in the price of a native token.

Sub-second finality.

Arc's consensus engine is called Malachite, derived from the Byzantine fault tolerance technology brought by the Informal Systems team after joining Circle, evolved from Tendermint. The key term is deterministic finality: once a transaction is confirmed, it cannot be rolled back. There is no "wait for 6 confirmations for added safety." This is a hard requirement for scenarios such as POS machine payments, real-time foreign exchange settlements, and broker settlements.

EVM compatibility + compliance privacy.

The execution layer is built on Reth, fully compatible with Ethereum's eco-system of Solidity toolchain and contract library. It also provides an optional privacy layer, exposing interfaces through EVM pre-compiles, supporting pluggable cryptographic backends, while retaining auditing disclosure channels. In other words, privacy in Arc is born for compliance, aligning with compliance.

Day-1 Ecosystem: DeFi Blue Chips + Payment Giants + Mainstream Wallets

Arc's mainnet will not be an empty chain on its first day. Circle has already disclosed the initial ecosystem lineup:

DeFi protocols and capital allocators: Aave, Aerodrome, Morpho, Uniswap, Curve, Euler Finance, Fluid, along with market makers FalconX, Galaxy, GSR, Keyrock, Nonco, XFX. The core protocols for lending, trading, and on-chain capital deployment are essentially all present.

Stablecoin payment service providers: Rain, Thunes, Wirex, covering card settlements, compliant consumer platforms, and global cross-border payment networks.

Wallets and exchanges: Binance Wallet, Chainlink, Fireblocks, Kraken, Ledger, MetaMask, Uniswap Labs, Upbit. All mainstream entry points are covered.

It is worth emphasizing that Arc also includes an on-chain forex engine called StableFX, supporting real-time exchanges between different currency stablecoins. Combined with Circle's own CCTP (Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol) and Paymaster (gas payment service) integration, Arc provides developers with a ready-to-use stablecoin financial tool stack.

ARC Token: 10 Billion and 60% Ecosystem Allocation

Circle's whitepaper released in May 2026 discloses the framework design of the ARC token:

Initial total supply of 10 billion tokens. The expected annual issuance rate is 2% to 3%, with a long-term goal of achieving "inflation neutrality." The role of the token is positioned as the "coordination mechanism" for the Arc network, which will be used for staking, governance, and network incentives as the network transitions to a proof-of-stake consensus model.

60% allocated to the ecosystem. This portion covers token sales, developer grants, network growth programs, and other participation mechanisms.

According to Cryptonomist, the ARC token pre-sale has raised $222 million, with a valuation of $3 billion, led by a16z crypto, with participation from BlackRock and Apollo.

Currently, there is no officially confirmed airdrop plan. However, Circle CEO Allaire has publicly stated that the company is "actively exploring" a native token, and the design of the tokenomics in the whitepaper (especially the 60% ecosystem allocation) has raised strong expectations in the community. The interaction data from the testnet phase (over 500 million transactions and nearly 3 million wallet addresses) is also seen as a potential qualification certificate by many opportunistic participants.

Arc Ecosystem Mining Guide: A Comprehensive Scan of Projects Before Mainnet Launch

According to records from the third-party project directory ArcLens, over 308 projects have already claimed to be building on Arc. Below is a categorization of the most notable projects to help readers quickly identify opportunities after the mainnet launch.

First Tier: Confirmed DeFi Blue Chips for Day-1 Launch

These projects have received endorsement from Circle's official announcements and have confirmed plans to deploy on Arc's mainnet on its first day or in the early stages:

Uniswap (v4): Announced on August 17 that it would launch v4 AMM infrastructure on Arc mainnet, providing liquidity pools and programmable Hooks for Arc. As the largest DEX globally, Uniswap's presence will directly affect the trading depth at the initial launch of Arc. Retail opportunity: Pay attention to early liquidity pools on Arc, as the combination of a new chain and new pools typically means LP fee yields will initially be far higher than on mature chains.

Aave: The leading lending protocol confirmed deployment on Arc. Users can borrow and lend USDC and other supported assets on Arc. Retail opportunity: Aave typically offers higher deposit rates in the early phases of new chain deployments (due to unbalanced lending demand and supply) and watch for any exclusive incentive programs Aave may launch for Arc.

Morpho: A modular lending protocol focused on optimizing lending rates, complementary to Aave.

Aerodrome / Velodrome (Dromos Labs): The DEX leader Aerodrome on Base Chain and Velodrome on Optimism are backed by the same team, Dromos Labs, which has confirmed entry into the Arc ecosystem. The successful path of Aerodrome on Base (early LP incentives + veToken economic model) may replicate on Arc. Retail opportunity: If Aerodrome issues incentive tokens on Arc or migrates its ve model, early LP participants may receive superior rewards.

Curve: A veteran in stablecoin swaps, has a natural advantage on Arc, which uses stablecoins as its native gas. The built-in StableFX forex engine in Arc may form a complementary or competitive relationship with Curve, which itself is worth tracking.

Euler Finance and Fluid: Two DeFi lending/trading protocols that have already deployed test versions on the Arc testnet and confirmed to go live with the mainnet.

Second Tier: Market Makers and Liquidity Providers

FalconX, Galaxy, GSR, Keyrock, Wintermute, IMC, Auros, B2C2, Cumberland, Zodia Markets: Almost all of the world's top crypto market makers are present. The direct implication for retail: The trading slippage and liquidity depth at the beginning of Arc's launch are guaranteed, avoiding the typical dilemma of "new chain launch with no market making and drastic price fluctuations."

Third Tier: Arc Native Projects (High Risk/High Potential)

The following projects are native projects specifically built for Arc, have not received official endorsement from Circle, pose higher risks, but if the Arc ecosystem surges, they are the most direct beneficiaries:

ViFi Labs: A decentralized forex protocol focusing on emerging market currencies like the Nigerian Naira, Brazilian Real, and Colombian Peso. It employs an AMM architecture designed for associated assets, providing near-zero slippage for swaps. It has been deployed on the Arc testnet, with Arc serving as its main liquidity and forex execution center. Reason to watch: The built-in StableFX forex engine in Arc + native support for USDC/EURC aligns well with ViFi's emerging market forex positioning and Arc's global payment vision. If Arc's cross-border payment narrative holds, ViFi may be the most direct application layer beneficiary.

ARCLaunch: The Arc version of Pump.fun, positioned as a meme token platform for one-click token issuance + trading. Plans to integrate built-in cross-chain bridges, unified balances, Uniswap integration, creator fees, and referral systems. Reason to watch: Meme seasons on new chains are almost certain events. What ARCLaunch aims to do is become the first meme token launch platform on Arc. High volatility and high risk, but this is also the track where the most compelling narratives can emerge in the early stages of a new chain.

AstraPump: Another Launchpad and DEX, focusing on one-click token issuance and trading, currently ranking high on ArcLens's trending list, in direct competition with ARCLaunch. Watch who goes live first and who generates trading volume first.

Lunex: A Curve-style StableSwap AMM, focused on low slippage exchanges of stablecoins. On Arc, a native DEX solely for stablecoin exchanges has narrative advantages.

Orixa (ORIXIANS): An Arc native NFT trading market, planning to launch the ORIXIANS series NFT after the mainnet goes live. It is not yet clear whether it will issue tokens. Reason to watch: NFT projects on new chains typically carry community identity and early participant identification functions, similar to the early stages of Friend.tech on Base.

Fourth Tier: Payment Infrastructure (Institution-Oriented, Lower Retail Attention)

Blockradar: A payment infrastructure team introduced by Circle's official blog on July 13, providing services aimed at enterprises.

Rain, Thunes, Wirex: Covering card settlements and cross-border payments. These projects primarily target B2B markets, with limited retail participation, but their activity is a leading indicator of whether the Arc "payment chain" narrative holds.

Action Checklist: What to Do in the 24 Hours Before Mainnet Launch

1. Prepare USDC. All operations on Arc require USDC as gas. Make sure you hold enough USDC on Ethereum or other chains supporting CCTP.
2. Set up your wallet. MetaMask has confirmed support for the Arc network. After the mainnet launches, add Arc's Chain ID and RPC endpoint, and Ledger hardware wallets have also confirmed support.
3. Watch the cross-chain bridge. Circle's CCTP is the official cross-chain channel for transferring USDC from other chains to Arc. On the day of the mainnet launch, this will be the primary entry point for funds into Arc. Note: There have been fake phishing sites claiming to be "ARC Bridge" (like onbridge.xyz), make sure to only use official Circle channels.
4. Track ArcLens and the official ecosystem page. ArcLens (third-party project directory) is currently the most comprehensive tool for tracking Arc ecosystem projects, where you can view token prices, market caps, trading volumes, and liquidity data.
5. Testnet interactions. If you haven't interacted on the Arc testnet yet, it's still not too late. Although the ARC token airdrop has not been confirmed, the 60% ecosystem allocation ratio in Circle's whitepaper, coupled with existing Community Programs (badge and points system), makes testnet activity a potential basis for airdrop qualifications.

Everything is ready, waiting for the doors to open!