The Arc mainnet is about to launch, and you need to know these things

Author: Little Cake, Deep Tide TechFlow

On September 16, Circle will officially launch the Arc public mainnet. The list of genesis validators for this chain reads more like a directory of global financial infrastructure: BlackRock, DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation), ICE (parent company of the New York Stock Exchange), Visa, Mastercard, Standard Chartered Bank, MoneyGram, Galaxy, Sumitomo Corporation, SBI Group, Global Payments.

Not a single one is a crypto-native project.

This is not a coincidence. From the very beginning, Arc was not designed to answer the question of "how many L1s does the crypto world need"; it answers another question: when stablecoins become the global payment pipeline, who will provide the underlying operating system for this pipeline?

Circle's answer is to build one themselves.

What is Arc?

Arc is a Layer 1 blockchain built by Circle, with its core positioning as the economic operating system (Economic OS) of the internet, distinguished from the vast majority of L1s on the market by three technical features:

USDC as the native gas token. This is the most fundamental design decision of Arc. All on-chain transaction fees are denominated in USD and paid in USDC. For traditional financial institutions, this means that transaction costs are predictable and can be accounted for in profit and loss statements, no longer affected by the price fluctuations of a native token.

Sub-second finality.

Arc's consensus engine is called Malachite, derived from the Byzantine fault tolerance technology brought by the Informal Systems team after joining Circle, evolved from Tendermint. The key term is finality: once a transaction is confirmed, it cannot be rolled back. There is no "waiting for 6 confirmations to be safer." For scenarios like POS machine payments, real-time foreign exchange settlements, and broker settlements, this is a hard requirement.

EVM compatibility + compliant privacy.

The execution layer is built on Reth, fully compatible with the Solidity toolchain and contract library of the Ethereum ecosystem. It also provides an optional privacy layer, exposing interfaces through EVM precompiles, supporting pluggable cryptographic backends, while retaining audit disclosure channels. In other words, Arc's privacy is born for compliance, standing on the same side as compliance.

Day-1 Ecosystem: DeFi Blue Chips + Payment Giants + Mainstream Wallets

The Arc mainnet will not be an empty chain on its first day. Circle has already disclosed the ecosystem lineup for the first day:

DeFi protocols and capital allocators: Aave, Aerodrome, Morpho, Uniswap, Curve, Euler Finance, Fluid, along with market makers FalconX, Galaxy, GSR, Keyrock, Nonco, XFX. The core protocols for lending, trading, and on-chain capital deployment are basically in place.

Stablecoin payment service providers: Rain, Thunes, Wirex, covering card settlements, compliant consumer platforms, and global cross-border payment networks.

Wallets and exchanges: Binance Wallet, Chainlink, Fireblocks, Kraken, Ledger, MetaMask, Uniswap Labs, Upbit. Full coverage of mainstream entry points.

It is worth emphasizing that Arc also has a built-in on-chain foreign exchange engine called StableFX, supporting real-time exchanges between different currency stablecoins. Coupled with Circle's own CCTP (Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol) and Paymaster (gas payment service) deep integration, Arc provides developers with a "plug-and-play" stablecoin financial tool stack.

ARC Token: 10 Billion and 60% Ecosystem Allocation

Circle disclosed the framework design of the ARC token in the white paper released in May 2026:

Initial total supply of 10 billion tokens. The annual issuance rate is expected to be 2% to 3%, with a long-term goal of achieving "inflation neutrality." The token is positioned as the "coordination mechanism" of the Arc network, and as the network transitions to a proof-of-stake consensus model, ARC will be used for staking, governance, and network incentives.

60% allocated to the ecosystem. This portion covers token sales, developer funding, network growth programs, and other participation mechanisms.

According to Cryptonomist, the ARC token presale has raised $222 million, with a valuation of $3 billion, led by a16z crypto, with participation from BlackRock and Apollo.

Currently, there is no officially confirmed airdrop plan. However, Circle CEO Allaire publicly stated that the company is "actively exploring" a native token, and the tokenomics design in the white paper (especially the 60% ecosystem allocation) has created strong expectations within the community. The interaction data from the testnet phase (over 500 million transactions, nearly 3 million wallet addresses) is also seen by many opportunists as potential qualification credentials.

Arc Ecosystem Gold Mining Atlas: A Comprehensive Scan of Projects Before Mainnet Launch

According to records from the third-party project directory ArcLens, over 308 projects have claimed to be building on Arc. The following categorizes the most noteworthy projects to help readers quickly identify opportunities after the mainnet launch.

First Tier: Confirmed DeFi Blue Chips Launching on Day One

These projects have received endorsement from Circle's official announcement, confirming they will deploy on the Arc mainnet on the first day or in the early stages:

Uniswap (v4): Officially announced on August 17 that it will deploy v4 AMM infrastructure when launching on the Arc mainnet, providing liquidity pools and programmable hooks for Arc. As the largest DEX globally, Uniswap's entry directly determines the trading depth in the early stages of Arc's launch. Retail opportunity: Pay attention to early liquidity pools on Arc; the combination of a new chain and new pools usually means LP fee yields are significantly higher in the early stages compared to mature chains.

Aave: The leading lending protocol has confirmed deployment on Arc. Users can borrow and lend USDC and other supported assets on Arc. Retail opportunity: Aave typically offers higher deposit rates in the early stages of deployment on a new chain (as lending demand and supply have not yet balanced), and keep an eye on whether Aave will launch exclusive incentive programs for Arc.

Morpho: A modular lending protocol focused on optimizing lending rates. It complements Aave.

Aerodrome / Velodrome (Dromos Labs): The leading DEX on the Base chain, Aerodrome, and Velodrome on Optimism are backed by the same team, Dromos Labs, and have confirmed entry into the Arc ecosystem. Aerodrome's successful path on Base (early LP incentives + veToken economic model) may be replicated on Arc. Retail opportunity: If Aerodrome issues incentive tokens on Arc or migrates its ve model, early LP participants may receive excess rewards.

Curve: A veteran player in stablecoin exchanges, it has a natural advantage on Arc, a chain where stablecoins are the native gas. The built-in StableFX foreign exchange engine of Arc may complement or compete with Curve, which is worth tracking.

Euler Finance and Fluid: Two DeFi lending/trading protocols that have deployed test versions on the Arc testnet and confirmed they will launch with the mainnet.

Second Tier: Market Makers and Liquidity Providers

FalconX, Galaxy, GSR, Keyrock, Wintermute, IMC, Auros, B2C2, Cumberland, Zodia Markets: Almost all top global crypto market makers are present. The direct implication for retail: The trading slippage and liquidity depth in the early stages of Arc's launch are guaranteed, avoiding the typical dilemma of "new chain launch, no market making, severe price fluctuations."

Third Tier: Arc Native Projects (High Risk/High Potential)

The following projects are specifically built for Arc, have not yet received official endorsement from Circle, carry higher risks, but if the Arc ecosystem explodes, they are the most direct beneficiaries:

ViFi Labs: A decentralized foreign exchange protocol focused on emerging market currencies like the Nigerian Naira, Brazilian Real, and Colombian Peso. It uses an AMM architecture designed for correlated assets, providing near-zero slippage exchanges. It has been deployed on the Arc testnet, with Arc as its main liquidity and foreign exchange execution center. Reason to watch: Arc's built-in StableFX foreign exchange engine + native support for USDC/EURC, ViFi's positioning in emerging market foreign exchange aligns closely with Arc's global payment vision. If Arc's cross-border payment narrative holds, ViFi may be the most direct beneficiary at the application layer.

ARCLaunch: The Arc version of Pump.fun, positioned as a one-click token issuance + trading meme token platform. Plans to integrate built-in cross-chain bridges, unified balances, Uniswap integration, creator fees, and referral systems. Reason to watch: Meme seasons on new chains are almost certain events. What ARCLaunch aims to do is become the first meme token launch platform on Arc. High volatility, high risk, but also the track most likely to generate hundredfold narratives in the early stages of a new chain.

AstraPump: Another launchpad and DEX, focusing on one-click token issuance and trading, ranking high on ArcLens's Trending list. It directly competes with ARCLaunch. Watch who goes live first and who generates trading volume first.

Lunex: A Curve-style StableSwap AMM, focusing on low-slippage exchanges of stablecoins. On Arc, a native DEX purely for stablecoin exchanges has narrative advantages.

Orixa (ORIXIANS): An Arc native NFT trading market, planning to launch the ORIXIANS series of NFTs after the mainnet goes live. It is not yet clear whether it will issue tokens. Reason to watch: NFT projects on new chains often carry community identity and early participant identification functions, similar to the early stages of Friend.tech on Base.

Fourth Tier: Payment Infrastructure (Institutional-Oriented, Lower Retail Attention)

Blockradar: A payment infrastructure team introduced on Circle's official blog on July 13, providing services to enterprises.

Rain, Thunes, Wirex: Covering card settlements and cross-border payments. These projects mainly target B2B, with limited retail participation space, but their activity levels are leading indicators of whether Arc's "payment chain" narrative is valid.

Practical Checklist: What to Do in the 24 Hours Before Mainnet Launch

1. Prepare USDC. All operations on Arc require USDC as gas. Make sure you hold enough USDC on Ethereum or other chains that support CCTP.
2. Set up your wallet. MetaMask has confirmed support for the Arc network. After the mainnet launch, add Arc's Chain ID and RPC endpoint; Ledger hardware wallets have also confirmed support.
3. Pay attention to cross-chain bridges. Circle's CCTP is the official cross-chain channel for transferring USDC from other chains to Arc. On the day of the mainnet launch, this will be the primary entry point for funds into Arc. Note: There are already phishing websites impersonating "ARC Bridge" (such as onbridge.xyz), so be sure to only use official channels from Circle.
4. Track ArcLens and the official ecosystem page. ArcLens (a third-party project directory) is currently the most comprehensive tool for tracking Arc ecosystem projects, allowing you to view token prices, market capitalization, trading volume, and liquidity data.
5. Testnet interaction. If you haven't interacted on the Arc testnet yet, there's still time. Although the ARC token airdrop has not been confirmed, the 60% ecosystem allocation ratio in the Circle whitepaper, along with the existing Community Program (badge and points system), makes testnet activity a potential basis for airdrop eligibility.

Everything is ready, waiting for the doors to open!