Author: Circle

Translated by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Deep Tide Overview: Circle has invited 11 traditional financial giants, including BlackRock, DTCC, Nasdaq's parent company ICE, Mastercard, and Visa, to be the founding validator nodes of the Arc chain, which publicly launched its mainnet on September 16. This is the first time a stablecoin issuer has allowed Wall Street to directly participate in the underlying consensus. On the surface, it appears to be "institution-level trust endorsement," but in essence, it outsources blockchain security to those who need compliance protection the most—either this is the true starting point for TradFi's entry, or it is yet another "permissioned chain that only institutions can afford to play with."

BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Corporation, and Visa have joined Circle as founding validator nodes for Arc.

New York—August 5, 2026—Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) announced today the lineup of founding validators for Arc. Arc is an open blockchain network built for global financial markets, real-time fund flow, and autonomous economic activities. Arc is currently in the private mainnet phase, with over 100 ecosystem and institutional builders participating, planning to publicly launch its mainnet on September 16, 2026. The founding validator lineup and major institutional integrations signify an important step taken by Circle in preparing for the network's public mainnet launch.

In addition to Circle, the founding validator lineup for Arc includes BlackRock, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Corporation, and Visa, representing a new model of on-chain infrastructure: institutions building applications on it protect network security, creating a foundation for globally distributed, trusted operators to support secure and scalable on-chain financial applications. This model allows Arc to meet the trust, security, operational, and compliance standards required by critical financial market infrastructure.

Mastercard's Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert stated: "The future of fund flow will not be defined by a single track, network, or form of value, but by how effectively they work together. As stablecoins and other digital assets enter real-world payments, settlements, and fund flows, Mastercard is focused on helping customers operate in an increasingly diverse payment ecosystem. Our involvement as a founding validator for Arc reflects this commitment—supporting trusted, interoperable infrastructure that helps connect emerging blockchain networks with the broader financial system relied upon by enterprises every day."

MoneyGram's Chairman and CEO Anthony Soohoo said: "Arc reflects the direction of industry development: providing a trusted, compliant, unified infrastructure to make stablecoins practical in real-world payments. We are proud to join the network as a validator, helping to build the infrastructure that supports financial institutions and consumers in transferring funds globally."

Standard Chartered Bank's Global Transaction Services and Digital Assets Head Ole Matthiessen stated: "The integration of traditional finance and digital assets requires infrastructure that meets the highest standards expected by regulators and institutions. We welcome the upcoming launch of the Arc network and are pleased to participate as a founding validator bank. We believe this represents a significant step forward in advancing trusted, compliant, and secure on-chain financial applications, helping to unlock new opportunities for digital assets in institutional finance."

Visa's Global Growth Products and Partnerships Head Rubail Birwadker stated: "Arc represents the kind of compliant, high-trust network infrastructure needed to support the growth of on-chain payments. Visa is proud to participate as a validator and help secure it."

Significant Progress of Major Institutions

As an early signal that Arc has the potential to become a nonstop settlement layer in global finance, Arc is gaining significant attention from major institutions. BlackRock, BNY Mellon, DTCC, and Standard Chartered Bank are exploring unique integrations with the network, covering tokenized asset settlements, digital asset custody, stablecoin access, as well as foreign exchange and repurchase infrastructure.

BUIDL Deployment to Arc

BlackRock expects to deploy its USD institutional digital liquidity fund BUIDL to Arc, leveraging the network's native USDC integration to allow institutional investors to complete subscriptions, redemptions, and fund deployments in the same chain environment, eliminating the friction that historically constrained the large-scale adoption of tokenized funds.

BlackRock’s Global Head of Digital Assets Robert Mitchnick stated: "Stablecoins and tokenized assets are integral to the future financial market infrastructure. A purpose-built track like Arc can support faster settlements, improved collateral liquidity, and broader institutional adoption of digital assets. We are encouraged by this development and look forward to collaborating with industry participants to help unlock the next phase of digital adoption."

Integration with DTCC Tokenization Services

Circle is collaborating with DTCC, the leading post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, to implement the tokenization of DTC custodial assets on Arc starting in the second half of 2027. This connection aims to enable market participants to leverage third-party applications on Arc that may support stablecoin-native settlements for tokenized assets outside of DTC. This collaboration reinforces DTCC's commitment to connecting the on-chain ecosystem, including trusted stablecoin issuers like Circle.

This integration aligns with DTCC's multi-chain strategy, which aims to enable market participants to benefit from the advantages of blockchain and distributed ledger technology, such as accelerated settlements, enhanced asset liquidity, extended trading hours, and greater cost and operational efficiency. DTC tokenized assets will continue to provide investors with the same protections, rights, and assurances they receive in traditional holdings.

DTCC President, CEO, and Director Frank LaSalla stated: "Tokenization can have the greatest impact through open, interoperable networks like Arc, which provide market participants with flexibility and choice while meeting our strict compliance, throughput, and operational standards. Our integration with Arc reinforces our commitment to building interconnected on-chain digital market infrastructure that enables seamless asset and data movement across ecosystems, laying the groundwork for a more efficient and interconnected financial future."

Combining Permissionless Innovation with Institutional-Grade Infrastructure

As a platform combining open, permissionless innovation with institutional-grade infrastructure, Arc will also host a wide range of first-day applications and services, expected to launch across a series of verticals in the digital asset ecosystem, including:

• Leading DeFi protocols and capital allocators, including Aave, Aerodrome, FalconX, Galaxy, GSR, Keyrock, Morpho, Nonco, Uniswap, and XFX, providing liquid markets for lending, trading, and on-chain capital deployment.
• Stablecoin payment providers, including Rain, Thunes, and Wirex, facilitating real-world stablecoin payments and settlement processes routed through Arc, covering card-based settlements, regulated consumer platforms, and a global cross-border payment network.
• Major exchanges and wallet providers, including Binance Wallet, Chainlink, Fireblocks, Kraken, Ledger, MetaMask, Uniswap Labs, and Upbit, enabling seamless access to USDC on Arc and supporting secure custody and cross-chain movement of assets.

Circle co-founder, CEO, and Chairman Jeremy Allaire stated: "Arc is built on a simple premise: the global financial system deserves a blockchain network it can trust. With some of the world's most respected financial institutions expected to come online as validators to protect the network, over 100 ecosystem and corporate builders from the world's largest banks, asset management firms, and DeFi protocols have already built on the Arc private mainnet, and Arc is ready to launch on September 16."

At launch, Circle will introduce a product suite built around Arc as a platform, including a composable application framework for common on-chain workflows, AI-driven tools for building applications and smart contracts, features to help asset issuers deploy and manage tokenized real-world assets, and an intuitive interface to help developers, users, and agents navigate the Arc ecosystem. The architecture of Arc is designed to be open and permissionless at its core, enabling the kind of composable innovation that can drive DeFi while meeting the trust and compliance standards required by traditional finance—a combination that has not previously existed on a single network.

About Circle Internet Group

Circle (NYSE: CRCL) is one of the world’s leading internet financial platform companies, building the foundation for a more open global economy through programmable blockchain infrastructure, digital assets, and payment applications. Circle’s platform includes the world’s largest stablecoin network pegged to USDC, the Circle payment network for global fund flows, and Arc, an enterprise-level blockchain designed to become the operating system of the internet economy. Businesses, financial institutions, and developers use Circle to support trustworthy internet-scale financial innovation.

Disclaimer

Arc is an open L1 blockchain initiated by Arc Network Services LLC (Arc LLC) and operated by licensed validators. Arc LLC provides only software services and does not offer regulated financial or consulting services. Arc has not been reviewed or approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services or any other regulatory authority.

The Arc network is provided "as is" and "as available." Using Arc involves inherent risks associated with blockchain technology, including smart contract vulnerabilities, network interruptions, and transaction errors or losses without recourse. The ability to transact on Arc depends on the ability to obtain and use USDC to pay gas fees. Neither Arc LLC nor any licensed validator is responsible for the content, accuracy, legality, or functionality of any third-party applications, protocols, or services built on or integrated with Arc. You are solely responsible for the functionality or services provided to users, including obtaining any necessary licenses or approvals and otherwise complying with applicable laws.

All features of Arc are subject to change, delay, or cancellation at any time without notice. This document does not constitute a commitment, guarantee, warranty, or legal, regulatory, tax, or investment advice. Coming soon.