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<h2 id="circle-closes-222m-arc-token-presale-at-3b-valuation">Circle Closes $222M Arc Token Presale at $3B Valuation</h2>
Circle Internet Group has raised $222 million in a presale of <a href="https://x.com/search?q=%24ARC&amp;src=cashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$ARC</a>, the native token of its new Arc blockchain, giving the network a fully diluted valuation of $3 billion. The raise marks a significant step in Circle's effort to expand well beyond its core business of issuing the USDC stablecoin.
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/11/circle-closes-222-million-from-blackrock-apollo-for-arc-blockchain.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Andreessen Horowitz led the round with a $75 million investment</a>, with BlackRock, Apollo Funds, and Intercontinental Exchange among roughly a dozen institutional participants that joined the presale. According to Circle's own disclosures, the full list of backers also includes ARK Invest, General Catalyst, Haun Ventures, Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, SBI Group, Standard Chartered Ventures, IDG Capital, and Bullish.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire framed the raise in expansive terms, telling CNBC: "We're entering the operating system business and we're doing it by building this multi-stakeholder distributed model with a token, with a distributed network." The company also noted it is moving into application-layer products alongside the core infrastructure play.
<h2 id="arc-institutional-blockchain-targeting-the-real-economy">Arc: Institutional Blockchain Targeting the Real Economy</h2>
Arc is a public Layer-1 blockchain designed specifically for institutional finance. It uses USDC as its native gas token, offers deterministic sub-second finality, and is built to support stablecoin-native applications including tokenized assets, programmable FX settlement, and cross-border payments. Circle describes it as an "Economic Operating System" intended to run real-world financial contracts, not just value transfers.
The network already counts a broad roster of financial institutions as partners and testnet participants, including Goldman Sachs, BNY, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, State Street, Mastercard, and Visa, among others. Circle launched the Arc public testnet in October 2025, and a mainnet beta is targeted for later in 2026.
The <a href="https://x.com/search?q=%24ARC&amp;src=cashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$ARC</a> token whitepaper, published alongside the presale announcement, outlines how the token is intended to support governance, network security, and economic coordination on the Arc network, with a longer-term roadmap toward a proof-of-stake system.
The scale and quality of institutional participation positions Arc as one of the most heavily backed blockchain infrastructure projects launched to date, and signals continued appetite from Wall Street for compliant, stablecoin-native on-chain infrastructure.
Sources: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/11/circle-closes-222-million-from-blackrock-apollo-for-arc-blockchain.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CNBC: Circle closes $222 million from BlackRock, Apollo for Arc blockchain</a> <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260511188445/en/Circle-Reports-First-Quarter-2026-Results" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Business Wire: Circle Reports First Quarter 2026 Results</a> <a href="https://www.circle.com/pressroom/circle-launches-arc-public-testnet" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Circle Pressroom: Circle Launches Arc Public Testnet</a>

Arc Hits $3b Valuation Following Huge Raise From Blackrock, Apollo, Etc...

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