Circle Internet Group raised $222 million through the presale of Arc, the native token for its upcoming blockchain network. The USDC stablecoin issuer reached a fully diluted valuation of $3 billion in this funding round. Andreessen Horowitz led the investment with a $75 million contribution.
The investor consortium includes major financial players such as BlackRock, Apollo Funds, ARK Invest, and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Other participants include Janus Henderson Investors, General Catalyst, Marshall Wace, IDG Capital, Haun Ventures, SBI Group, Standard Chartered Ventures, and Bullish. Circle becomes the first publicly traded company to complete a token presale before launching its blockchain project.
Circle owns 25% of the total Arc token supply, which consists of 10 billion tokens. The company will operate validator infrastructure to generate fee income and staking rewards from its holdings. Developers and users who contribute to the Arc network will receive 60% of the token allocation.
Circle has reserved the remaining 15% for long-term network needs. The token structure aims to align stakeholders with the network’s growth trajectory. Circle published the Arc token whitepaper outlining governance, security, and network operations.
Institutional Blockchain Foundation
Arc serves as a Layer-1 blockchain designed for institutional finance applications. Circle launched the Arc public testnet in October 2025 with participation from over 100 organizations. Major financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, Société Générale, Standard Chartered, and State Street, joined as early partners.
The blockchain supports tokenized assets, stablecoin-based settlements, and programmable foreign exchange operations. Technology partners include Amazon Web Services, Visa, and Mastercard. Circle designed Arc with dollar-based fees, sub-second transaction finality, and configurable privacy features.
The Arc token presale signals Circle’s expansion beyond its core USDC stablecoin business. USDC currently ranks as the second-largest stablecoin with $76 billion in circulation. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated the company is building infrastructure for AI-native economic activity.
Global Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, Robert Mitchnick, said the project “gives us insight into stablecoin-denominated settlement and on-chain foreign exchange.” The idea behind the Arc network is to establish a programmable financial system that links local markets to the global economy. As the network evolves, Circle intends to convert to distributed, community-based governance.
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