Circle goes beyond stablecoins...ARC token presale raises $222 million

▲ Circle, USDC, Stablecoin, USD/ChatGPT Generated Image

Circle Internet Group, the issuer of USDC, has raised $222 million through a presale of ARC tokens to expand its proprietary blockchain network, Arc. In this transaction, the fully diluted valuation of the Arc blockchain network was assessed at $3 billion.

Cointelegraph reported on May 11 (local time) that Circle agreed to sell 740 million ARC tokens through a private placement led by a16z Crypto. The sale price was set at $0.30 per token, and this presale was announced alongside Circle's Q1 2026 earnings release.

Participants in this round included BlackRock, Apollo Funds, ARK Invest, Bullish, General Catalyst, Haun Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, IDG Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, SBI Group, and Standard Chartered Ventures.

Circle first unveiled Arc in August as an open Layer 1 blockchain focused on stablecoin finance. This ARC token sale is seen as a move by Circle to expand its business beyond being a stablecoin issuer to become a blockchain infrastructure company. Cointelegraph reported that Circle aims to develop Arc into a settlement layer for stablecoin finance, tokenized assets, and programmable financial markets.

ARC is designed as the native token of the Arc network. According to Cointelegraph, Circle described ARC as a coordination asset supporting governance, security, and network operations. Arc uses a hybrid consensus mechanism combining a permissioned validator-based structure with a future plan to transition to proof-of-stake.

The initial supply of ARC is fixed at 10 billion tokens. Approximately 60% of this is allocated to the ecosystem for developers, grants, and network growth. 25% is held by Circle to support development, staking, and governance participation, while the remaining 15% is set aside as a long-term reserve to respond to market stress or future network needs.

Circle's Q1 earnings were also released. USDC circulation increased by 28% year-over-year, reaching $77 billion at the end of the quarter, and on-chain transaction volume surged by 263% to $21.5 trillion. Total revenue and reserve income increased by 20% to $694 million.

However, net income decreased by 15% to $55 million due to increased expenses. Operating expenses increased by 76% to $242 million, attributed to stock-based compensation and related payroll taxes since the IPO, as well as investments in product, distribution, and infrastructure. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 24% to $151 million.

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