Circle raises $222 million for Arc at a $3 billion valuation

Circle is pushing beyond stablecoin issuance, putting Arc at the center of its next infrastructure push after raising $222 million in a presale for ARC Token at a $3 billion fully diluted valuation. The backers are notable: a16z crypto, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Intercontinental Exchange and Standard Chartered Ventures were all part of the round.

Circle wants Arc to be the network large financial firms use to move cash-like assets, collateral and tokenized products onchain. That would push Circle further up the stack, from issuing USDC to also running more of the rails around it.

That fits the broader business shift. In the first quarter, Circle reported $77 billion in USDC in circulation and $21.5 trillion in onchain transaction volume. So Arc is not a side project or a replacement for USDC. It is Circle’s attempt to turn its stablecoin business into a bigger institutional infrastructure business.