In a private placement spearheaded by a16z crypto, Circle Internet Group consented to sell 740 million ARC tokens for $222 million. This puts the fully diluted value of the Arc blockchain network at $3 billion.
On Monday, the USDC stablecoin’s issuer—a company registered on the New York Stock Exchange—announced the presale of tokens with its first-quarter 2026 results, which revealed an increase in revenue and reserve income but a decrease in net income.
In addition to a16z crypto, the following investors and organizations supported the round: Apollo Funds, ARK Invest, Bullish, General Catalyst, Haun Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, IDG Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, SBI Group, and Standard Chartered Ventures.
Expands Deeper Into Stablecoin Infrastructure and Tokenized Finance
On Friday, Circle agreed to sell ARC tokens in a private placement exempt from registration under the US Securities Act of 1933 for $0.30 apiece, as stated in the token purchase agreements.
The sale is a big deal for Circle because they want to use the funds to build Arc, which will serve as a settlement layer for stablecoin financing, tokenized assets, and programmable financial markets. Their goal is to go beyond stablecoin issuance and into blockchain infrastructure.
Arc, an open layer-1 blockchain with an emphasis on stablecoin financing, was first announced by Circle in August 2025. Additionally, on Monday, a whitepaper was issued in which ARC was defined as a “native coordination asset” that would aid in system governance, security, and network operations.
According to Circle’s Arc whitepaper, ARC is the native token of their layer-1 “Economic OS” blockchain, which was developed for tokenized marketplaces and stablecoin-based financing.
With permissioned validators and an impending transition from the proof-of-authority (PoA) consensus model to the proof-of-stake (PoS) model, the network employs a hybrid consensus strategy.
Circle said that there would be a set initial supply of 10 billion ARC tokens. Part of that supply will go to the ecosystem to fund development, grants, and network expansion, while Circle will get 25% to use for development, staking, and governance involvement. The remaining 60% will go to the ecosystem as a whole.