Circle Launches Arc Mainnet with USDC as Gas Asset, Backed by BlackRock and Visa

Circle, the issuer of USDC, has launched the public mainnet of its Arc blockchain, designed for stablecoin payments and financial markets. Arc uses USDC as the network's gas asset and provides sub-second transaction finality with EVM compatibility. Traditional finance institutions including BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard, and DTCC have joined the initial validator group. According to CoinTelegraph and Block, Circle officially launched the Arc public mainnet on April 16 (local time).