Circle has announced the upcoming launch of its Arc blockchain public mainnet on September 16, 2026. The company is bringing on board major names such as BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, and Visa as founding validators to secure the network.
On paper, this plan looks solid. BlackRock will place its BUIDL tokenized fund product on Arc. The DTCC is also preparing to pave the way for the tokenization of its custodied assets, with realization targeted for the second half of 2027. Prior to its public opening, Arc has been operating in private mainnet mode with over 100 developers, while its testnet has processed more than 500 million transactions across nearly 3 million crypto wallets.
Ecosystem Support from Day One
The upcoming launch of Arc will be immediately supported by top-tier DeFi protocols. Aave, Morpho, and Uniswap are confirmed to be operational on day one. Users will also be able to access the network directly through popular interfaces like Binance Wallet, Kraken, Ledger, and MetaMask, with all gas fees paid using USDC.
This expansion comes alongside Circle’s improving business performance in several areas. In the second quarter of 2026, the circulating supply of USDC reached $73.3 billion, representing a 19% increase, while on-chain transaction volume jumped 151% to $14.8 trillion. The Circle Payments Network also recorded an annualized volume of $14.7 billion, up 76% compared to the previous quarter, with that figure climbing further to $23 billion as of July 31. On the regulatory front, Circle has just secured licenses from New York regulators and OCC approval to establish the Circle National Trust. The company also renewed its distribution agreement with Coinbase without altering the original terms, including a distribution and transaction fee sharing worth $410 million this quarter.
Why Did the Market React Coolly?
Despite announcing a major launch and a suite of new approvals, investor response went the opposite way. Circle shares (CRCL) briefly rose 7% shortly after the report was released, but soon fell 3% to $61.39. Year-to-date, the company’s stock has plunged by more than 20%.
This pessimism is rooted in other details behind the second-quarter growth figures. Despite the supply increase, USDC’s market share in the fiat-pegged stablecoin sector slipped to 27%. Research firm Mizuho even maintained an Underperform rating on Circle stock with a price target of $45, representing a potential 27% downside. They highlighted that the USDC circulation trend is beginning to show a decline, and the company’s on-chain transaction volume actually fell 31% on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
The Arc network and its lineup of validators indeed serve as a new weapon for Circle. However, for shareholders, the entry of these massive names does not seem to be enough to offset the threat of losing USDC’s market dominance in the stablecoin sector.
Reported from Decrypt.
Read also: What Is DeFi (Decentralized Finance)?
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
