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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.
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.
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.
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.
Circle Releases Post-Quantum Security Whitepaper, Outlining Quantum-Resistant Upgrade Roadmap for Arc and USDC
Circle has released a post-quantum security white paper, proposing a phased upgrade plan covering Arc, USDC, smart contracts, and the validator system to address potential security risks posed by future quantum computing.
Circle Releases Post-Quantum Security Whitepaper, Plans to Support Post-Quantum Signatures at Arc Mainnet Launch
Circle has released a "Post-Quantum Security Whitepaper," proposing a phased post-quantum resilience roadmap centered on the long-term security of the Arc blockchain ecosystem.The roadmap covers multiple technical areas, including quantum-safe signatures, private execution environments, validator hardening, infrastructure migration, and account recovery, applicable to core components such as the Arc network, USDC, smart contracts, and validators.Circle stated that it plans to provide post-quantum signature support at the launch of the Arc mainnet (2026) to enhance the ecosystem's ability to withstand future quantum computing threats.
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: 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 Explains Its Investment Logic for Arc: $9 Trillion Stablecoin Market as the Catalyst—The “Economic Operating System” Will Reshape Onchain Finance’s Foundation
a16z Crypto published a post explaining its investment rationale for Arc, noting that stablecoins have evolved from crypto-native trading tools into the foundational layer of global financial infrastructure—and are now driving blockchain’s evolution from “application-layer finance” to a “system-level economic operating system.” Last year, stablecoin transaction volume reached approximately $9 trillion—placing it on par with global payment networks such as Visa and PayPal. The total supply of USD-pegged stablecoins has surpassed $270 billion. Cross-border payments, B2B settlements, and foreign exchange transactions are emerging as core use cases for stablecoins, positioning them increasingly as the “global capital flow upgrade layer.” a16z Crypto stated that existing blockchain infrastructure remains primarily geared toward crypto-native users and individual developers, lacking native support for large-scale institutional requirements. Its participation in building the ARC token ecosystem stems from the expectation that, as global finance gradually migrates on-chain, only a select few public blockchains will be capable of serving as the foundational bedrock for “on-chain economic systems.”
Related news
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.
Circle Releases Post-Quantum Security Whitepaper, Outlining Quantum-Resistant Upgrade Roadmap for Arc and USDC
Circle has released a post-quantum security white paper, proposing a phased upgrade plan covering Arc, USDC, smart contracts, and the validator system to address potential security risks posed by future quantum computing.
Circle Releases Post-Quantum Security Whitepaper, Plans to Support Post-Quantum Signatures at Arc Mainnet Launch
Circle has released a "Post-Quantum Security Whitepaper," proposing a phased post-quantum resilience roadmap centered on the long-term security of the Arc blockchain ecosystem.The roadmap covers multiple technical areas, including quantum-safe signatures, private execution environments, validator hardening, infrastructure migration, and account recovery, applicable to core components such as the Arc network, USDC, smart contracts, and validators.Circle stated that it plans to provide post-quantum signature support at the launch of the Arc mainnet (2026) to enhance the ecosystem's ability to withstand future quantum computing threats.
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.
Circle CEO: Would love to back a team exploring AI agents signing legal contracts on Arc
Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire reposted an article on X about "how to build an AI agent that can sign legal contracts."Allaire commented that he would love to back a team building such a business on Arc using the Circle Agent Stack.
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.