Circle unveils Arc strategy: an L1 for stablecoins and AI agents
- —The Arc mainnet launched on September 16, with USDC as the network's native gas token
- —Presale: 740 million ARC at $0.30 for $222 million, valuation of about $3 billion
- —Transaction finality in under a second via the Malachite consensus
- —Launch validators include BlackRock, Visa and Mastercard
Why it matters: Arc creates demand for USDC as gas and infrastructure for AI-agent payments, strengthening Circle's position in tokenization.
Source: Crypto Briefing