Arc Mainnet Launches Public Release on 16th... 10 Billion ARC Genesis Minted

Circle's Layer-1 blockchain Arc has launched its public mainnet on the 16th. Arc uses USDC as gas fees and confirms transactions in under one second. Circle previously announced BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, and Visa as founding validators.

Arc is EVM-compatible, allowing execution of existing Solidity smart contracts. The mainnet launch coincides with over 100 applications and institutional ecosystem builders participating. The Block reported Circle minted 10 billion ARC tokens this week, though the token minting does not imply public sale.