Circle, a US company publicly traded and recognized as the issuer of the USDC stablecoin is planning to launch its own layer-1 (L1) blockchain, Arc, compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The company disclosed in its Q2 report that Arc is designed to provide an “enterprise-grade foundation” for stablecoin payments, foreign exchange and capital market applications.
Arc, which will feature USDC as its native gas token, allowing users to pay transaction fees with the stablecoin, is set to launch on a public testnet later within the year. Amidst the unveiling of Arc, Circle reported a 53% increase in total revenue and reserve income year-over-year for Q2, hitting $658 million.
Circle describes the soon-to-launch Arc blockchain as “purpose-built for stablecoin finance,” thus marking a significant step in its goal of providing a “full-stack platform for the internet financial system.” With USDC featuring as the native gas, Arc will offer an integrated stablecoin foreign exchange engine, sub-second settlement finality and opt-in privacy controls.
Currently, USDC boasts a $65.6 billion market capitalization and runs on 24 networks. Primarily, Ethereum is the largest network for USDC, with a total USDC supply on the network estimated to be $42.6 billion as per Circle’s data.
Circle also revealed a Q2 net loss of $482 million, a stark 93% increase from around $33 million in Q4 2024, largely impacted by its IPO expenses, to the tune of $591 million. Following a successful IPO, Circle debuted public trading on the New York Stock Exchange at a price of $69 per share on June 5. The stock quickly skyrocketed to an all-time high of $292.8 by June 23, only to drop by over 21% over the past 30 days, closing at $161.2 on a recent Monday.
The introduction of Arc exemplifies a growing trend for major crypto industry companies and traditional finance institutions launching new blockchain networks. Other examples include fintech giant Stripe’s blockchain network, Tempo, and crypto-friendly trading app Robinhood’s layer-2 (L2) blockchain aimed at tokenization.