Circle Arc Public Mainnet Is Live

Circle's Arc network is live on public mainnet as of Sept. 16, the date Circle set in its Aug. 5 announcement and that Arc Network's launch post named for the public opening. BlackRock, DTCC, Visa, Mastercard, and seven more financial institutions secure the chain as founding validators alongside Circle.

Public endpoints are responding. The mainnet JSON-RPC at https://rpc.mainnet.arc.io returns chain ID 5042 (0x13b2), matching the parameters BlockBeats reported after Circle said the mainnet was open, with explorer access at explorer.arc.io. Gas is paid in USDC. Reporting on the launch also says the network supports native USDC and EURC cross-chain deposits and withdrawals.

Arc is a Layer 1 built for money movement. Payments, foreign exchange, capital markets, tokenized assets, and connected financial applications are the stated targets. Fees in USDC mean users never touch a separate gas token, according to a Bitget Wallet guide published Sept. 14. The chain is EVM-compatible with finality targeted under one second. It connects with Circle's wider stack, including USDC and the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol for moving USDC across supported networks. Day-one uses span trading, lending, card settlement, custody, and cross-network movement.

The full cohort, named in Circle's Aug. 5 release, includes BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, and Visa alongside Circle. More than 100 ecosystem and enterprise builders from banks, asset managers, and DeFi protocols worked on the private mainnet ahead of launch.

"Our participation as a founding validator on Arc reflects that commitment, supporting trusted, interoperable infrastructure that can help connect emerging blockchain networks with the broader financial systems businesses rely on every day," said Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard. Anthony Soohoo, chairman and CEO of MoneyGram, called Arc infrastructure that makes stablecoins practical for real-world payments. Ole Matthiessen of Standard Chartered said the launch advances trusted and compliant onchain applications for institutions, where convergence of traditional finance and digital assets demands infrastructure meeting the highest regulatory standards. Visa's Rubail Birwadker described compliant, high-trust infrastructure for onchain payments. Matthiessen added that Standard Chartered welcomes the launch and is pleased to participate as a founding validator bank. Circle describes Arc as an open blockchain network built for financial markets, real-time money movement, and agentic economic activity, with treasury movement and applications where AI agents use programmable infrastructure among its target uses.

The largest commitment comes from BlackRock. It expects to deploy BUIDL, its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, on Arc through native USDC integration, letting institutions subscribe, redeem, and deploy inside one onchain environment. "Stablecoins and tokenized assets are inextricably linked within the future of financial market infrastructure," said Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock's global head of digital assets. "Purpose-built rails like Arc can support faster settlement, improved collateral mobility, and broader institutional adoption of digital assets."

DTCC's work runs furthest into the future. Circle is working with the clearinghouse to tokenize assets held at The Depository Trust Company on Arc starting in the second half of 2027. That would allow stablecoin-native settlement outside DTC against DTC-tokenized assets, keeping the protections of traditionally held assets. Its multi-chain strategy targets accelerated settlement, enhanced asset mobility, extended trading hours, and lower operational friction. "Our integration with Arc reinforces our commitment to building connected, onchain digital market infrastructure," said Frank LaSalla, DTCC president, CEO, and director. LaSalla added that tokenization has its greatest impact through open, interoperable networks that give participants flexibility and choice while meeting rigorous compliance, throughput, and operational standards. Developers can build while businesses and institutions explore payments, stablecoins, foreign exchange, tokenization, and financial-market applications. The available tokens, applications, and services will depend on the projects that launch on Arc. BlackRock, BNY, DTCC, and Standard Chartered are each exploring further integrations across settlement, custody, stablecoin access, and repo.

Trading, payments, and custody applications were listed for day one. DeFi and capital allocators include Aave, Aerodrome, FalconX, Galaxy, GSR, Keyrock, Morpho, Nonco, Uniswap, and XFX. Rain, Thunes, and Wirex route payments across cards, consumer platforms, and cross-border flows. Binance Wallet, Chainlink, Fireblocks, Kraken, Ledger, MetaMask, Uniswap Labs, and Upbit handle custody and access. Bitget Wallet supports Arc from launch day with self-custodial management, transfers, trading, and dApp connections. On Sept. 15, meme-coin launchpad Pools announced it would be Arc's first launchpad, which Arc's product lead confirmed by retweeting, according to PANews reporting carried by Gate.

At launch Circle planned a product suite around the chain: a composable application framework for common onchain workflows, AI-assisted tools for building applications and smart contracts, capabilities for issuers to deploy and manage tokenized real-world assets, and interfaces for developers, users, and agents. Circle also hosted an invitation-only Arc Mainnet Launch program in New York on Sept. 16.

Circle's own documents limit what the launch promises. Arc runs on a permissioned validator set. No regulator, including the New York State Department of Financial Services, has reviewed or approved it. Arc Network Services provides software only, not regulated financial services. Features can be modified, delayed, or cancelled without notice. Smart contract bugs, network disruptions, and transactions with no recourse are listed as inherent risks. Neither the operator nor its validators take responsibility for third-party applications built on the network.

"Arc is built on a simple premise: that the global financial system deserves a blockchain network it can trust," said Jeremy Allaire, Circle's co-founder, CEO, and chairman. "Arc is ready for a September 16 launch." The next dated commitment after today's public opening is the DTCC tokenization work in the second half of 2027.