Story perspectives

Circle Launches Arc Mainnet With 11 Institutional Validators

By Drooid · Sep 17, 2026, 2:11 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Circle launched the Arc mainnet on September 16, 2026.
Arc operates with 11 validators, including BlackRock, Visa, DTCC and Mastercard.
Arc fees are paid in USDC, letting users forecast costs in dollars.
Over 190 institutional builders and more than 100 applications are live on Arc.
Circle sold 740 million ARC for $222 million in May, valuing the network at $3 billion.

History

Historical Context

In June 2019 Facebook unveiled Libra, a permissioned stablecoin backed by a basket of assets and overseen by a 27-member consortium that included Visa, Mastercard and Uber. Regulatory pressure forced the Libra Association to rebrand as Diem, narrow its design and dissolve in 2022 after selling assets to Silvergate. Circle’s September 2026 Arc mainnet, built with validators Visa and BlackRock, mirrors this legacy finance blockchain model.

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Story summary

Circle launched the Arc mainnet on September 16, 2026.
Arc operates with 11 validators, including BlackRock, Visa, DTCC and Mastercard.
Arc fees are paid in USDC, letting users forecast costs in dollars.
Over 190 institutional builders and more than 100 applications are live on Arc.
Circle sold 740 million ARC for $222 million in May, valuing the network at $3 billion.

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