Circle Launches Arc Mainnet on September 16 With USDC Native Gas and 190+ Institutional Participants

Circle officially launched its Arc mainnet on September 16, 2026, marking a significant milestone in the company's evolution from a stablecoin issuer to a full-fledged blockchain infrastructure provider. The Arc network is designed with USDC as the native gas token, meaning all transaction fees on the network are paid in USDC rather than a volatile native asset, providing businesses with predictable, dollar-denominated transaction costs. The launch was accompanied by the participation of over 190 institutional partners, including major banks, payment processors, and fintech companies, underscoring the growing institutional demand for stablecoin-native settlement infrastructure. Arc's architecture is optimized for high-throughput payments and tokenized financial applications, with features designed to comply with regulatory requirements while maintaining composability with the broader DeFi ecosystem. Despite the successful launch, the ARC token declined 6.63% on the day, while USDC remained stable at $1.00. Aave (AAVE) dropped 7.5% as part of a broader DeFi market correction. For content creators, this is a major story about the institutionalization of stablecoins and the emergence of purpose-built blockchains for regulated financial applications. Arc's success could reshape the competitive landscape for payment-focused blockchains and challenge the dominance of Ethereum and Solana in the stablecoin settlement market.
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