Blockchain project 'Arc' set for takeoff under Circle's leadership
Circle, the USDC issuer, is set to launch a new layer 1 blockchain called Arc. This innovative blockchain is purpose-built for stablecoin finance, targeting payments, foreign exchange, and capital markets applications.
Key features of Arc include the use of USDC as native gas, promising low, predictable, and dollar-denominated fees without volatile crypto tokens. The blockchain boasts sub-second transaction finality, with deterministic settlement in under one second, powered by a high-performance consensus engine called Malachite.
With up to 3,000 transactions per second (TPS) with 20 validators and up to 10,000 TPS with just four validators, Arc offers high throughput. The blockchain also includes a built-in stablecoin foreign exchange engine, featuring an institutional-grade Request-for-Quote (RFQ) system for real-time price discovery and peer-to-peer onchain settlement for currency exchange.
Arc provides optional privacy features, allowing users and enterprises to selectively shield balances and transactions to maintain privacy while ensuring regulatory compliance through visible addresses. The blockchain will also offer full Circle ecosystem integration, including native support for Circle’s Payments Network, multiple stablecoins, wallets, contracts, and cross-chain transfers.
Arc is designed to be fully Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible, allowing developers to use familiar tools, programming languages, and frameworks from the Ethereum ecosystem. This compatibility ensures easy porting of existing smart contracts and decentralized finance applications to Arc, fostering developer adoption and ecosystem composability.
The public testnet for Arc is expected to go live this fall, followed by a full production launch by the end of the year. The mainnet beta for Arc is set for a 2026 rollout. By building its own blockchain optimized for stablecoins and USDC-native fees, Circle aims to create a comprehensive platform for internet-native finance with scalable performance, predictable costs, and enterprise-grade features focused on the needs of stablecoin payments, foreign exchanges, and capital markets.
Sources:
[1] Unchained Daily newsletter [2] Circle's Arc blockchain whitepaper [3] Circle's official announcement [4] TechCrunch article on Circle's Arc blockchain [5] CoinDesk article on Circle's Arc blockchain
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