August 12, 2025 – New York — Circle, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), has unveiled Arc, a new Layer-1 blockchain built specifically for stablecoin transactions.

Arc is EVM-compatible, uses USDC as its native gas token, and features a built-in foreign exchange engine, sub-second transaction finality, and optional privacy settings. The platform is designed to optimize stablecoin payments, FX trading, and capital markets.

The announcement comes alongside Circle’s Q2 2025 earnings, showing USDC circulation at $61.3–65 billion (up 90% year-over-year) and 53% revenue growth to $658 million.

Arc’s public testnet will roll out in the coming months, with integrations into Circle’s existing ecosystem and anticipated partnerships with major players like Binance, FIS, Fiserv, and OKX.

Circle says Arc aims to deliver “compliance-ready, high-performance stablecoin infrastructure” for institutional and retail adoption.