Circle has successfully raised $222 million in a presale for its ARC token, which is priced at $0.30 each. This funding round was led by a16z crypto and values the Arc blockchain network at $3 billion. The presale is part of Circle's strategy to advance its blockchain infrastructure beyond just stablecoin issuance.
The New York Stock Exchange-listed company disclosed this development alongside its Q1 2026 financial results, which reported a revenue of $694 million and an increase in USDC circulation to $77 billion. However, the firm noted a decrease in net income during the same period.
Circle plans to utilize the funds to enhance Arc as a settlement layer for stablecoin finance and programmable financial markets. The network, first introduced in August 2025, employs a hybrid consensus mechanism that includes permissioned validators and will transition to a proof-of-stake model.
As outlined in Circle's recently published whitepaper, ARC serves as a "native coordination asset" supporting governance and network operations, with an initial supply of 10 billion tokens allocated for various uses, including ecosystem development and staking.