Circle debuts blockchain network alongside Visa, BlackRock, and partners.

- Circle, the entity behind USDC and the globe’s second-biggest stablecoin provider, has introduced the public test environment for its innovative blockchain, “Arc.” The network promotes itself as an “economic framework for the internet” and seeks to integrate worldwide financial infrastructure directly into the blockchain.
- As per Circle, prominent players like BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Visa, Mastercard, and State Street are among the participants, alongside Apollo, Deutsche Bank, ICE, BNY Mellon, and leading crypto and fintech enterprises. Cumulatively, they oversee trillions in assets and accommodate billions of users around the world.
- Arc is entirely interwoven with Circle’s USDC stablecoin and its payments platform. Transactions are engineered to function with predictable costs, swift finality, and optional privacy functionalities, rendering it suitable for diverse applications spanning from lending and capital markets to international payments and currency exchange.
- Arc’s design is crafted to unite local economies across continents – extending from Africa and the Americas to Asia. Upon its debut, stablecoin issuers from seven nations are taking part, notably JPYC (Japan), BRLA (Brazil), MXNB (Mexico), and PHPC (Philippines). In addition to banks and payment processors, notable Web3 ventures are engaging in the testnet, including MetaMask, Fireblocks, Chainlink, Alchemy, LayerZero, Wormhole, and Stargate. This establishes Arc as a network that, for the first time, authentically merges conventional financial organizations and crypto framework.
- Artificial intelligence also has a role: Utilizing Anthropic’s Claude Agent SDK, Circle aims to incorporate AI-enhanced developer instruments into the network, thereby expediting the creation of applications on Arc. Looking ahead, Arc is designed to evolve into a collaboratively overseen network featuring decentralized management and a transparent validator structure. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire regards Arc as “the prospect of connecting each domestic financial system to the global economy.” Explore our dialogue with him here: Circle founder: “We are facing one of the greatest transformations in human history.”
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source
- Press communication from Circle | Circle



