Circle Launches Arc Mainnet With BlackRock, Visa as Validators

Circle launches Arc mainnet with BlackRock and Visa as validators, USDC gas, sub-second finality and a 10 billion ARC genesis mint. Circle has launched the public mainnet of Arc, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for financial markets and agentic activity, with major financial institutions including BlackRock and Visa among its founding validators. According to Wu Blockchain, more than 100 applications and more than 100 institutions and ecosystem builders were live on Arc at launch. The network uses USDC to pay transaction fees and is designed to provide sub-second finality. BlackRock, Visa Among Arc Founding Validators Circle said Arc launched with a group of founding validators that includes BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, ICE, Mastercard, SBI Group, Standard Chartered and Visa. The participation of financial-market institutions places the new network within Circle's broader effort to develop blockchain infrastructure for financial applications. Arc is described as an open Layer 1 blockchain focused specifically on financial markets and agentic activity. More than 100 applications were already live when the public mainnet launched, alongside more than 100 institutions and ecosystem builders, according to the information shared by Wu Blockchain. Arc Uses USDC for Gas One of Arc's core network features is its use of USDC for gas payments . Rather than requiring users to acquire a separate native asset to cover transaction fees, transactions on the network use the stablecoin for gas. Circle also said Arc provides sub-second finality, a technical feature intended to allow transactions to reach confirmation quickly. The mainnet is now publicly available with its initial application and institutional ecosystem in place. The network's launch comes with a focus on financial-market infrastructure and applications that involve autonomous or agentic activity, according to Circle's description of Arc. Circle Mints 10 Billion ARC Tokens Alongside the mainnet launch, Circle completed the genesis mint of 10 billion ARC tokens. However, the company explicitly said that the genesis mint does not constitute a commitment to launch the ARC token publicly. The distinction leaves the status of any potential public token launch separate from the creation of the initial token supply. The 10 billion ARC tokens therefore form part of the network's genesis activity, but Circle has not committed to making the token available through a public launch. With the Arc mainnet now live, more than 100 applications and over 100 institutions and ecosystem builders are already part of the network, while the future public availability of ARC remains undecided. Technology & Blockchain Writer Victoria Hale writes about blockchain technology, digital infrastructure, and the intersection of emerging technologies with finance. Her articles explore how new protocols and systems are shaping the evolving digital economy. She prioritises clarity and accuracy when explaining technical developments to a general audience.