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Project Overview
Arc is an open Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoin finance that delivers the performance, reliability, and liquidity needed to meet global financial demands. From emerging stableswap protocols to tokenized equities, commodities, and real estate, Arc provides all kinds of stablecoin issuers and builders with a robust environment to launch, collaborate, and scale with confidence. Arc is built by Circle.
Bitwise CIO: The GENIUS Act Opens the Floodgates for Institutional Funding, with Three Enterprise Chains Raising Over $1 Billion Combined
According to The Block, Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, noted that three enterprise-grade blockchains—Arc (by Circle), Canton Network, and Tempo (by Stripe)—have collectively raised over $1 billion in funding recently. All three funding rounds occurred after the signing of the GENIUS Act in July 2025. Hougan believes this legislation broke a prior regulatory stalemate that had discouraged institutional capital from entering the space. Hougan identified three key signals: First, all three blockchains prioritize native privacy-preserving transactions as a core design feature, addressing institutions’ need for transaction confidentiality. Second, the implementation of the GENIUS Act has significantly reduced regulatory uncertainty; the next critical variable is the pending Clarity Act, from which stablecoins and tokenization infrastructure stand to benefit. Third, these blockchains are backed by top-tier institutions—including Goldman Sachs, Citadel, BlackRock, Stripe, and Visa—marking a stark contrast to Ethereum and Solana, which emerged from grassroots origins. Hougan stated that his firm’s capital remains primarily allocated to native crypto projects, and he believes these emerging enterprise chains will raise the overall competitive bar and attract additional capital inflows.
Bitwise CIO: Privacy Could Be the Next “Killer App,” Arc, Canton, and Tempo Exceed $1 Billion in Total Funding
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated that privacy is becoming a core infrastructure direction for the next phase of the crypto industry. Recently, three institutional-grade blockchains focused on stablecoins and asset tokenization—Arc, Canton, and Tempo—have accumulated over $1 billion in total funding, indicating a rapidly growing demand from institutions for "privacy-friendly on-chain financial systems."Among them, stablecoin issuer Circle contributed $222 million in funding for Arc, giving it a valuation of approximately $3 billion; Digital Asset’s Canton blockchain is reportedly seeking $300 million in funding at a $2 billion valuation; and Tempo, backed by Stripe and Paradigm, has previously completed $500 million in funding at a valuation of $5 billion.Hougan noted that this funding wave reflects three major trends: the gradual clarification of the U.S. regulatory framework, increased institutional demand for on-chain privacy, and intensified competition among new blockchain networks supported by large enterprises. Current public blockchains still face structural trade-offs between speed, cost, security, and privacy. However, scenarios involving stablecoins and RWA tokenization require systems that simultaneously offer high performance, compliance, and privacy, making “verifiable privacy” a critical prerequisite for institutional adoption of on-chain finance.Hougan further stated that, for enterprises, “all transactions being publicly broadcast” is not an advantage but a potential flaw. In the future, users and institutions may find it increasingly difficult to accept a fully transparent on-chain financial environment. He believes that privacy capabilities could become the “killer app” driving the crypto industry into its next phase of mainstream adoption. Additionally, following the passage of the U.S. Genius Act in 2025, regulatory certainty has significantly increased, providing a clearer policy foundation for institutional funds to enter the crypto infrastructure space. (CoinDesk)
Circle Completes $222 Million ARC Token Presale, Valued at $3 Billion
According to @cryptounfolded, Circle has completed the Arc token presale, raising $222 million with a fully diluted valuation of $3 billion. The round was led by a16z, with participation from major institutions including BlackRock and Apollo. Arc is positioned as a public blockchain for institutional contracts, governance, and AI agents, using USDC as its underlying settlement currency. Circle will receive 25% of the tokens for validator rewards.
JPYC, the issuer of the yen-pegged stablecoin, has completed a $17.62 million Series B extension round.
According to NADA NEWS, JPYC, the issuer and operator of the Japanese yen-pegged stablecoin JPYC, announced that it has raised an additional $17.62 million in the second closing of its Series B funding round. Combined with the first closing, the total funds raised are expected to reach approximately $28.93 million. Participating investors include NCB Venture Capital, Metaplanet, Kitao Bank, and Yokohama Capital, among others. The newly raised capital will be primarily used for system and application development, hiring talent for business expansion, stablecoin issuance and redemption, trading, payments, management-related operations, and new strategic investments. JPYC stated that, as of April 15, its cumulative issuance has exceeded approximately $13.21 million. The stablecoin is currently supported on Avalanche, Ethereum, and Polygon, and the company is considering adding support for Kaia and Arc.
Bernstein Backs Circle: Q2 Results Ease Competition Concerns, Maintains $140 Price Target
Odaily Odaily News: Wall Street investment firm Bernstein has reaffirmed its "Outperform" rating on stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial, maintaining a $140 price target.Bernstein stated that Circle's second-quarter performance effectively addressed previous market concerns regarding intensifying stablecoin competition and the growth potential of reserve asset income. Analysts believe that Circle's expanding partnerships, regulatory licensing progress, and the upcoming Arc blockchain project will bring new revenue streams to the company—growth drivers that are not yet fully reflected in current market expectations.As the stablecoin market continues to expand, Circle is expected to further broaden its business model through payment infrastructure, on-chain financial services, and ecosystem collaborations, with its future growth potential still underestimated by the market. (The Block)
Circle: Tokenized Bitcoin cirBTC, natively backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, is launching soon
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, posted on X announcing that cirBTC is即将 launched. Circle Wrapped Bitcoin (cirBTC) is a tokenized Bitcoin backed 1:1 by native Bitcoin, issued by Circle on the Ethereum mainnet and the Arc network. Each cirBTC is backed 1:1 by native Bitcoin held in custody by regulated entities within the Circle group.
Bitwise CIO: The GENIUS Act Opens the Floodgates for Institutional Funding, with Three Enterprise Chains Raising Over $1 Billion Combined
According to The Block, Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, noted that three enterprise-grade blockchains—Arc (by Circle), Canton Network, and Tempo (by Stripe)—have collectively raised over $1 billion in funding recently. All three funding rounds occurred after the signing of the GENIUS Act in July 2025. Hougan believes this legislation broke a prior regulatory stalemate that had discouraged institutional capital from entering the space. Hougan identified three key signals: First, all three blockchains prioritize native privacy-preserving transactions as a core design feature, addressing institutions’ need for transaction confidentiality. Second, the implementation of the GENIUS Act has significantly reduced regulatory uncertainty; the next critical variable is the pending Clarity Act, from which stablecoins and tokenization infrastructure stand to benefit. Third, these blockchains are backed by top-tier institutions—including Goldman Sachs, Citadel, BlackRock, Stripe, and Visa—marking a stark contrast to Ethereum and Solana, which emerged from grassroots origins. Hougan stated that his firm’s capital remains primarily allocated to native crypto projects, and he believes these emerging enterprise chains will raise the overall competitive bar and attract additional capital inflows.
Bitwise CIO: Privacy Could Be the Next “Killer App,” Arc, Canton, and Tempo Exceed $1 Billion in Total Funding
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated that privacy is becoming a core infrastructure direction for the next phase of the crypto industry. Recently, three institutional-grade blockchains focused on stablecoins and asset tokenization—Arc, Canton, and Tempo—have accumulated over $1 billion in total funding, indicating a rapidly growing demand from institutions for "privacy-friendly on-chain financial systems."Among them, stablecoin issuer Circle contributed $222 million in funding for Arc, giving it a valuation of approximately $3 billion; Digital Asset’s Canton blockchain is reportedly seeking $300 million in funding at a $2 billion valuation; and Tempo, backed by Stripe and Paradigm, has previously completed $500 million in funding at a valuation of $5 billion.Hougan noted that this funding wave reflects three major trends: the gradual clarification of the U.S. regulatory framework, increased institutional demand for on-chain privacy, and intensified competition among new blockchain networks supported by large enterprises. Current public blockchains still face structural trade-offs between speed, cost, security, and privacy. However, scenarios involving stablecoins and RWA tokenization require systems that simultaneously offer high performance, compliance, and privacy, making “verifiable privacy” a critical prerequisite for institutional adoption of on-chain finance.Hougan further stated that, for enterprises, “all transactions being publicly broadcast” is not an advantage but a potential flaw. In the future, users and institutions may find it increasingly difficult to accept a fully transparent on-chain financial environment. He believes that privacy capabilities could become the “killer app” driving the crypto industry into its next phase of mainstream adoption. Additionally, following the passage of the U.S. Genius Act in 2025, regulatory certainty has significantly increased, providing a clearer policy foundation for institutional funds to enter the crypto infrastructure space. (CoinDesk)
a16z: Stablecoins Are Reshaping Global Financial Infrastructure, Accelerating the Arrival of a New On-Chain Finance Era
A research report released by a16z Crypto states that stablecoins have evolved from niche trading tools into the foundational layer of a new global financial infrastructure, giving rise to a new generation of “Banking-as-a-Service” (BaaS) models. Unlike the previous wave of BaaS, this new model is built on onchain infrastructure and integrates account management, payments, foreign exchange, and credit functions via self-custodial wallets—significantly reducing reliance on traditional intermediaries. The report classifies blockchains into three categories: general-purpose public chains (e.g., Solana and Ethereum), purpose-built chains optimized for payment use cases (e.g., Stripe’s Tempo and Circle’s Arc), and compliance-focused networks designed for regulated institutions (e.g., Canton). On the regulatory front, following the passage of the GENIUS Act, stablecoin issuers are competing aggressively for national trust charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), aiming to gain direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails and secure a central position within the payments stack. The report also notes that stablecoins have made significant progress in the “middle mile” of cross-border payments; however, liquidity bottlenecks between stablecoins and local fiat currencies remain unresolved in emerging markets. Looking ahead, as stablecoin scale grows, the onchain credit market is poised to become the next major opportunity after payments—providing capital to borrowers underserved by traditional financial systems. Moreover, the widespread adoption of stablecoins is expected to further reinforce the U.S. dollar’s global dominance.
0xSun: News-Driven Trading Still Holds Advantages, Currently Inclined to Long BTC and Hedge by Shorting Altcoins
Odaily News Trader 0xSun posted stating that news-driven trading remains one of the more cost-effective strategies in the current crypto market, with its core lying in the directionality and volatility brought by events.Reviewing several recent events, including abnormal ETH transactions, Arc fee adjustments, TAO ecosystem changes, RAVE-related investigations, and the KelpDAO security incident, all triggered significant price fluctuations within a short period. He believes that participating in such opportunities relies on either the speed of information acquisition or the ability to judge the impact of events.Furthermore, he indicated that as the recent altcoin market has gradually cooled down, he has resumed the strategy of going long on BTC while hedging by shorting some altcoin assets. He believes that against the backdrop of relatively weak liquidity and the fading of certain narratives, the overall performance of altcoins may face relatively more pressure.
Bernstein Backs Circle: Q2 Results Ease Competition Concerns, Maintains $140 Price Target
Odaily Odaily News: Wall Street investment firm Bernstein has reaffirmed its "Outperform" rating on stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial, maintaining a $140 price target.Bernstein stated that Circle's second-quarter performance effectively addressed previous market concerns regarding intensifying stablecoin competition and the growth potential of reserve asset income. Analysts believe that Circle's expanding partnerships, regulatory licensing progress, and the upcoming Arc blockchain project will bring new revenue streams to the company—growth drivers that are not yet fully reflected in current market expectations.As the stablecoin market continues to expand, Circle is expected to further broaden its business model through payment infrastructure, on-chain financial services, and ecosystem collaborations, with its future growth potential still underestimated by the market. (The Block)
Bitwise CIO: The GENIUS Act Opens the Floodgates for Institutional Funding, with Three Enterprise Chains Raising Over $1 Billion Combined
According to The Block, Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, noted that three enterprise-grade blockchains—Arc (by Circle), Canton Network, and Tempo (by Stripe)—have collectively raised over $1 billion in funding recently. All three funding rounds occurred after the signing of the GENIUS Act in July 2025. Hougan believes this legislation broke a prior regulatory stalemate that had discouraged institutional capital from entering the space. Hougan identified three key signals: First, all three blockchains prioritize native privacy-preserving transactions as a core design feature, addressing institutions’ need for transaction confidentiality. Second, the implementation of the GENIUS Act has significantly reduced regulatory uncertainty; the next critical variable is the pending Clarity Act, from which stablecoins and tokenization infrastructure stand to benefit. Third, these blockchains are backed by top-tier institutions—including Goldman Sachs, Citadel, BlackRock, Stripe, and Visa—marking a stark contrast to Ethereum and Solana, which emerged from grassroots origins. Hougan stated that his firm’s capital remains primarily allocated to native crypto projects, and he believes these emerging enterprise chains will raise the overall competitive bar and attract additional capital inflows.
0xSun: News-Driven Trading Still Holds Advantages, Currently Inclined to Long BTC and Hedge by Shorting Altcoins
Odaily News Trader 0xSun posted stating that news-driven trading remains one of the more cost-effective strategies in the current crypto market, with its core lying in the directionality and volatility brought by events.Reviewing several recent events, including abnormal ETH transactions, Arc fee adjustments, TAO ecosystem changes, RAVE-related investigations, and the KelpDAO security incident, all triggered significant price fluctuations within a short period. He believes that participating in such opportunities relies on either the speed of information acquisition or the ability to judge the impact of events.Furthermore, he indicated that as the recent altcoin market has gradually cooled down, he has resumed the strategy of going long on BTC while hedging by shorting some altcoin assets. He believes that against the backdrop of relatively weak liquidity and the fading of certain narratives, the overall performance of altcoins may face relatively more pressure.
Only about 40 tokens in circulation, Circle Bitcoin tokenized asset cirBTC has launched on Ethereum
cirBTC was officially launched on Ethereum on June 8. Data from its Ethereum contract shows a maximum total supply of approximately 40.02 tokens, with 11 holder addresses in total. Eligible institutional participants can mint and redeem cirBTC through Circle Mint. Currently, Ethereum is the only network where it has been launched, with future support planned for Circle's own blockchain Arc and additional networks. cirBTC is issued by Circle International Bermuda Limited, with the underlying Bitcoin held in custody by Circle National Trust and segregated from Circle's own assets. Reserve data from August 11 shows that cirBTC supply stands at 40.02159077 tokens, with 42.5070808 BTC held in reserves. Circle has publicly disclosed the reserve addresses and balances, and employs Chainlink's Proof of Reserve mechanism to publish verified reserve data on-chain. By comparison, WBTC has a circulating supply of approximately 116,100 tokens with a market cap of about $7.362 billion, while cbBTC has a circulating supply of approximately 97,200 tokens with a market cap of about $6.162 billion. cirBTC has not yet established a trackable market price or market capitalization.
Circle Announces Arc Founding Validator Lineup, Public Mainnet to Launch on September 16
Circle announced the founding validator lineup for its open blockchain network Arc and confirmed that the public mainnet will launch on September 16, 2026. Currently, Arc has onboarded over 100 ecosystem and institutional builders on the private mainnet.
Bonk Guy: Capital Blindly Chases New Chain Meme Narratives, Most Projects Lack Real User Bases
Odaily News: Crypto KOL Unipcs (also known as "Bonk Guy") stated that Crypto Twitter (CT) and on-chain traders are constantly rotating to chase the hot narratives of each newly launched public chain—essentially, they are continuously seeking new opportunities to lose money.Unipcs noted that two weeks ago, the market concentrated on hyping the Base ecosystem narrative due to Robinhood Chain's performance, but the trend ultimately did not last. Last week, the market began viewing Stable Chain as the next "Robinhood Chain" opportunity, and he had previously warned the community about the related risks.He stated that the highest market-cap Meme coin on Stable Chain has already dropped approximately 90%, and most Meme projects have not generated genuine market attention.Unipcs believes he is not opposed to Tether or Arc Chain—if they focus on their positioning as stablecoin infrastructure, they may still achieve growth. However, forcibly fitting every new chain into the Meme coin narrative is an unreasonable market behavior.He added that many participants do not understand Meme coin culture, which could lead to significant losses for investors' assets. For trading Meme coins, Unipcs recommends focusing on networks with existing ecosystem foundations, such as Robinhood Chain, Solana, and BNB Chain.
Circle’s public blockchain Arc reportedly launched privately, with LayerZero and LI.FI already deployed
: On July 13, crypto KOL @amathxbt and others revealed that Circle’s public chain Arc may have been launched non-publicly. Cross-chain protocols LayerZero and LI.FI have been deployed on the Arc network, but community testing has not yet been publicly opened. Arc is a public Layer 1 blockchain, positioned as the "economic operating system of the internet," providing shared and composable infrastructure to support economic contracts, stablecoins, tokenized assets, and global market operations. In May this year, Circle officially released the ARC whitepaper, outlining the design framework of ARC as the native coordination asset of the Arc blockchain network. The Arc public testnet launched in October 2025, with the mainnet expected to go live in the summer of 2026.
Arc testnet will undergo a load test today
Arc has announced its testnet will undergo a scheduled load test on July 8, designed to analyze the network's performance and stability under extreme conditions.According to the official statement, users may experience network congestion, increased transaction failure rates, higher gas fees, longer block generation times, and brief pauses in block production during the test.
Arc Introduces Optional Privacy Execution Scheme to Support On-Chain Financial Sensitive Processes
According to official announcements, Arc Privacy—its confidential smart contract engine—will offer optional private transaction and private smart contract capabilities, enabling enterprises and developers to handle sensitive processes such as payroll disbursement, fund management, trading, and asset issuance on public blockchains, while retaining controlled access for authorized parties.
Related news
Only about 40 tokens in circulation, Circle Bitcoin tokenized asset cirBTC has launched on Ethereum
cirBTC was officially launched on Ethereum on June 8. Data from its Ethereum contract shows a maximum total supply of approximately 40.02 tokens, with 11 holder addresses in total. Eligible institutional participants can mint and redeem cirBTC through Circle Mint. Currently, Ethereum is the only network where it has been launched, with future support planned for Circle's own blockchain Arc and additional networks. cirBTC is issued by Circle International Bermuda Limited, with the underlying Bitcoin held in custody by Circle National Trust and segregated from Circle's own assets. Reserve data from August 11 shows that cirBTC supply stands at 40.02159077 tokens, with 42.5070808 BTC held in reserves. Circle has publicly disclosed the reserve addresses and balances, and employs Chainlink's Proof of Reserve mechanism to publish verified reserve data on-chain. By comparison, WBTC has a circulating supply of approximately 116,100 tokens with a market cap of about $7.362 billion, while cbBTC has a circulating supply of approximately 97,200 tokens with a market cap of about $6.162 billion. cirBTC has not yet established a trackable market price or market capitalization.
Bitwise: Circle Payment Infrastructure Severely Undervalued by the Market, Stablecoin Market Could Expand to $5 Trillion
According to CoinDesk, Bitwise Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen stated in an interview that Circle's market opportunity is being severely underestimated by investors as the stablecoin market expands from its current scale of approximately $300 billion to $3 trillion to $5 trillion. He pointed out that the market is currently focusing solely on Circle's reserve yield business while ignoring the "second growth curve" of the payment infrastructure it is building, comparing Circle's long-term potential to Visa and Mastercard. Rasmussen also mentioned that whether Circle's Arc blockchain, as a Layer-1 network designed specifically for stablecoin payments, can be adopted and integrated by the traditional financial system will be a core indicator to watch over the next year. He predicted, "Looking back in five years, Circle will be not only a stablecoin giant but also a payment giant."
Bernstein Backs Circle: Q2 Results Ease Competition Concerns, Maintains $140 Price Target
Odaily Odaily News: Wall Street investment firm Bernstein has reaffirmed its "Outperform" rating on stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial, maintaining a $140 price target.Bernstein stated that Circle's second-quarter performance effectively addressed previous market concerns regarding intensifying stablecoin competition and the growth potential of reserve asset income. Analysts believe that Circle's expanding partnerships, regulatory licensing progress, and the upcoming Arc blockchain project will bring new revenue streams to the company—growth drivers that are not yet fully reflected in current market expectations.As the stablecoin market continues to expand, Circle is expected to further broaden its business model through payment infrastructure, on-chain financial services, and ecosystem collaborations, with its future growth potential still underestimated by the market. (The Block)
Circle Beats Q2 Adjusted Earnings Expectations, USDC Circulation Reaches $73.3 Billion
Odaily News Circle, a stablecoin issuer, beat expectations with adjusted earnings in Q2, with shares rising approximately 10% in pre-market trading. During the same period, USDC circulation grew 19% year-over-year to $73.3 billion, while revenue slightly missed market expectations. Circle stated that its on-chain transaction volume increased 151% year-over-year to $14.8 trillion, indicating increased institutional usage. The company also disclosed progress on the Arc blockchain network and the Circle Payments Network.
Circle Announces Arc Founding Validator Lineup, Public Mainnet to Launch on September 16
Circle announced the founding validator lineup for its open blockchain network Arc and confirmed that the public mainnet will launch on September 16, 2026. Currently, Arc has onboarded over 100 ecosystem and institutional builders on the private mainnet.
Bonk Guy: Capital Blindly Chases New Chain Meme Narratives, Most Projects Lack Real User Bases
Odaily News: Crypto KOL Unipcs (also known as "Bonk Guy") stated that Crypto Twitter (CT) and on-chain traders are constantly rotating to chase the hot narratives of each newly launched public chain—essentially, they are continuously seeking new opportunities to lose money.Unipcs noted that two weeks ago, the market concentrated on hyping the Base ecosystem narrative due to Robinhood Chain's performance, but the trend ultimately did not last. Last week, the market began viewing Stable Chain as the next "Robinhood Chain" opportunity, and he had previously warned the community about the related risks.He stated that the highest market-cap Meme coin on Stable Chain has already dropped approximately 90%, and most Meme projects have not generated genuine market attention.Unipcs believes he is not opposed to Tether or Arc Chain—if they focus on their positioning as stablecoin infrastructure, they may still achieve growth. However, forcibly fitting every new chain into the Meme coin narrative is an unreasonable market behavior.He added that many participants do not understand Meme coin culture, which could lead to significant losses for investors' assets. For trading Meme coins, Unipcs recommends focusing on networks with existing ecosystem foundations, such as Robinhood Chain, Solana, and BNB Chain.