Circle, the world’s second-largest stablecoin issuer, has launched the public testnet for Arc, its open layer-1 blockchain network designed to integrate global financial infrastructure onchain.
The rollout, referred to by Circle as the “Economic Operating System for the internet,” includes collaboration from over 100 significant firms across banking, capital markets, and fintech, such as BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Visa, Mastercard, and State Street, according to a Tuesday announcement.
“With Arc’s public testnet, we’re witnessing incredible early momentum as leading companies, protocols, and projects begin to build and test,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated. “Together, these companies reach billions of users, moving, exchanging, and custodying hundreds of trillions in assets and payments,” he added.
Arc is engineered to deliver predictable US dollar-denominated fees, sub-second finality, and optional privacy controls, directly integrating with Circle’s USDC (USDC) stablecoin and payment stack. It intends to support a diverse array of financial applications, ranging from lending and capital markets to global payments and foreign exchange (FX).
Related: ClearBank to become one of first EU banks to join Circle Payments Network
Institutions join Circle’s Arc testnet
The testnet launch has attracted participation from major institutions such as Apollo, BNY Mellon, Intercontinental Exchange, and Deutsche Bank, along with global payment companies Mastercard, FIS, Paysafe, and Nuvei.
Circle emphasized that Arc’s specialized architecture connects local markets across continents, spanning from Africa to the Americas and Asia, offering enterprise-grade infrastructure for both traditional financial institutions and Web3-native projects.
Another critical aspect of Arc is its contribution to stablecoin infrastructure. The network accommodates fiat-pegged tokens, tokenized funds, and FX liquidity. Issuers from seven countries, including JPYC (Japan), BRLA (Brazil), MXNB (Mexico), and PHPC (Philippines), are now part of the testnet.
Arc’s ecosystem extends beyond finance, integrating with prominent developer and infrastructure providers such as MetaMask, Fireblocks, Chainlink, Alchemy, and LayerZero, in addition to crosschain bridges like Wormhole and Stargate.
AI integration is also planned, with Anthropic’s Claude Agent SDK improving the developer experience through AI-driven tools.
Related: Tempo, Stripe’s new blockchain, hits $5B valuation in $500M funding round
Circle to connect global markets
Allaire remarked that Arc is “purpose-built to connect every local market to the global economy,” noting that it provides an opportunity for every type of company to “build on enterprise-grade network infrastructure.”
Circle stated that the long-term objective is to evolve Arc into a community-governed network, increasing validator participation and establishing transparent governance.
Circle announced plans for Arc in August, indicating the network would utilize USDC as its native gas token. Last week, Allaire also revealed that Circle is developing private stablecoins on Arc.
Magazine: Back to Ethereum — How Synthetix, Ronin and Celo saw the light
