Circle Launches Arc: A Game-Changing EVM Layer 1 Blockchain for USDC Dominance in Payments and Capital Markets

Circle just dropped a bombshell—Arc, its new EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain, is gunning to be the backbone of USDC-powered finance. No more clunky bridges or sluggish settlements—just native USDC rails for payments and institutional capital markets.

Why it matters: TradFi’s legacy plumbing wasn’t built for stablecoins. Arc cuts through the nonsense with an Ethereum-aligned chain where every transaction settles in the world’s most trusted digital dollar.

The cynical take: Wall Street will pretend they saw this coming—right after they finish migrating their Excel macros to handle on-chain settlements. Progress, one reluctant adoption at a time.

Allaire says Arc will fully integrate Circle’s services

The Circle CEO claimed that Arc will be fully integrated across Circle’s platform and services. Allaire added that this integration will ensure “seamless interoperability” with other existing blockchains. Arc will also support Circle’s future expansion into “enterprise-grade financial infrastructure.”

The company disclosed that Arc was part of its broader mission to expand partnerships and innovation across the banking, crypto, and payments sectors. Circle has formed key partnerships with FIS, Binance, OKX, Fiserv (FI), and Corpay (CPay). The partnerships will facilitate around-the-clock payments and liquidity to solidify Circle’s role in the digital dollar ecosystem. 

Analysts reportedly view Arc as a crucial development in transforming stablecoin infrastructure. They claimed that Arc could potentially accelerate the adoption of stablecoins in DeFi and traditional finance. The analysts did not provide any supporting data for their forecasts. However, Circle is positioning itself to lead the next phase of internet money by offering a dedicated stablecoin blockchain.

“I’m proud of Circle’s performance in the second quarter, our first as a public company, where we demonstrated sustained growth and adoption of our platform across a multitude of use cases and with a diverse set of industry-defining partners.”

–Jeremy Allaire, Co-founder and CEO of Circle

Allaire further claimed that Arc’s unveiling was a major milestone for his company and the crypto industry in general. He pointed out that there was accelerated interest in partnering with Circle across the financial sector and building on stablecoins.  

Circle launches a stablecoin payments network

Circle launched the CPN (Circle Payments Network) in May, and it has reported strong early momentum. CPN has four main active payment channels, and it is expected to accelerate growth in the stablecoin sector in the second half of this year. Circle added that the all-new CPN will partner with over 100 financial institutions in the pipeline. There are also plans to open additional payment corridors and include enterprise-centric capabilities for the protocol. 

The payment network will also connect financial institutions and facilitate real-time settlement of cross-border payments in EURC, USDC, or other regulated stablecoins. Participants may include digital wallet operators, neobanks, FinTechs, banks, and payment service providers. Circle said these institutions can send and receive funds worldwide in real-time. However, CPNs do not MOVE money between bank accounts traditionally. The marketplace coordinates how stablecoins move between network participants. It also orchestrates information exchange across the world.

Circle stressed that CPN can be viewed as an orchestration layer that directs participants on how (and when) to transfer tokens to complete transactions. Circle will act as the network’s operator, defining the rules and providing APIs for participants to plug into. The company’s vision is to have CPN as a framework that developers can build upon. If successful, CPN could eventually help Circle play custodian to stablecoin reserves and customer deposits. The company could then offer banking services like lending under supervised bank regulations.

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