Circle debuts Arc blockchain which Jeremy Allaire calls ‘more consequential’ than USDC
Circle has launched 'Arc,' a new blockchain platform designed to serve as an economic operating system for financial institutions and tokenized assets. Supported by major firms like BlackRock and Visa, the platform aims to facilitate institutional-grade financial transactions on-chain.
Why it matters
The launch represents a major push by traditional financial giants to integrate blockchain technology into mainstream institutional finance, potentially challenging existing stablecoin models.
Competition is heating up to among the largest blockchain companies to provide the rails for moving money and financial assets onchain.
“This is, I believe, the most consequential major platform launch in our history, and I think an even more consequential launch than USDC itself,” said Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire during a press briefing.
The stablecoin market, Circle’s main business, is becoming increasingly competitive, with banks and payment firms entering the race.
A group of 21 financial institutions including Bank of America, Citi and Goldman Sachs is preparing a dollar stablecoin for the first half of 2027, while European bank consortium Qivalis is working toward a euro token . Meanwhile, payments giant Stripe pushes deeper into crypto with Open Standard's upcoming Open USD stablecoin and Tempo, the payments-focused blockchain it incubated with Paradigm.
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