Circle announced it raised $222 million in a token presale round for its new Layer 1 blockchain “Arc,” which focuses on corporate finance. The company’s new network reached $3 billion on a fully diluted valuation (FDV) basis. This makes Circle the first publicly traded company to conduct a token presale.
The investment round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto) with a contribution of $75 million. Other prominent investors included BlackRock, Apollo Global Management, Intercontinental Exchange, SBI Group, ARK Invest, and Standard Chartered Ventures.
Circle announced its first-quarter financial results for 2026 along with the Arc launch. The company’s total revenue and reserve earnings increased by 20% year-over-year to $694 million. The amount of USDC in circulation grew by 28% to $77 billion. On-chain USDC transaction volume increased by 263% during the same period to $21.5 trillion.
The Arc blockchain is described as a public network developed for corporate finance. USDC will be used as a natural gas token for transaction fees on the network. Circle aims to reduce USDC’s current reliance on networks like Ethereum and Solana through Arc.
The company also introduced a new toolset called “Circle Agent Stack” developed for AI-powered autonomous systems. CEO Jeremy Allaire said that the global economy will increasingly be shaped by AI and agent-based systems.
Analysts view Circle’s Arc move not only as a growth strategy but also as a strategic defensive measure against stablecoin competition.
*This is not investment advice.