🚨 @Circle raises funding $222M for Layer-1 Arc, valuing FDV at $3B

📌 Circle—the issuer of USDC—has just successfully raised $222M through the ARC token presale, the native token of the Layer-1 blockchain Arc.
📌 This round brings Arc’s FDV to approximately $3B, making it one of the largest fundraising deals in crypto in 2026 to date. The funding round was led by a16z with $75M, with participation from BlackRock, Apollo Funds, Intercontinental Exchange (the parent company of NYSE), SBI Group, Standard Chartered Ventures, ARK Invest, Haun Ventures, and many other major funds.
📌 Arc is a Layer-1 developed by Circle, focusing directly on stablecoins and on-chain finance. This chain is EVM-compatible, uses USDC as gas, integrates FX tools for stablecoins, processes transactions in under 1 second, and offers privacy options for financial institutions.
📌 In terms of tokenomics, ARC has an initial total supply of 10 billion tokens:
🔸 25% belongs to Circle
🔸 60% is allocated to developers, builders, and users in the ecosystem
🔸 15% is placed into a long-term reserve fund
📌 USDC is still heavily dependent on Ethereum, Solana, and distribution partners like Coinbase. With Arc, Circle wants to build its own stablecoin infrastructure—from issuance, payments, gas, and liquidity...
Perhaps Circle wants its own native chain for the flow of USDC without relying on other chains. $3B also isn’t an excessive valuation for a company backed by a major stablecoin player, but the Plasma lesson is still there.