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USDC issuer Circle Internet Group has raised $222 million in a token presale for its stablecoin-focused blockchain Arc, achieving a $3 billion fully diluted valuation.
The raise was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz with a $75 million investment, with BlackRock and Apollo Funds participating, signaling Wall Street's growing comfort with tokenized capital formation.
What Is Arc? The Stablecoin Blockchain From USDC Issuer Circle
Circle also announced the publication of the Arc whitepaper Monday, noting that it outlines “how a native coordination asset could support governance, security, and network operations on Arc.”
The firm has been laying the groundwork for the layer-1 blockchain for some time, with Allaire telling Decrypt in April that the company was “exploring” an Arc network token launch and a potential shift to proof-of-stake consensus. Among its features are a modular privacy system leveraging zero-knowledge proofs, multi-party computation and Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), designed to balance compliance with confidentiality.
Circle structured Arc with 10 billion tokens in its initial supply. The company will hold 25% of these tokens, while 60% will be allocated to network participants who build on and use Arc. The remaining 15% will go to a long-term reserve. To accelerate ecosystem development, the blockchain has opened applications for a developer funding program.
The firm announced the Arc raise Monday alongside its Q1 results, reporting that circulation of USDC grew by 28% over the quarter to hit $77 billion, which on-chain transaction volume for the stablecoin grew by 263% to hit $21.5 trillion.
CEO Jeremy Allaire told CNBC the company is evolving beyond its stablecoin roots. "We're becoming a broader internet platform company," Allaire said, comparing blockchain infrastructure to "mobile operating systems or cloud platforms."
Circle's token presale marks a watershed for corporate tokenization. As the first publicly listed company to conduct such a raise, Circle is testing whether traditional capital markets can coexist with token-based fundraising and governance models. "We want to build an operating system that has many, many stakeholders in it," Allaire explained, pointing to, "major companies who are running the infrastructure with us and who ultimately help to govern it."
"It is a major shift in how stakeholders can participate in the growth of networks," Allaire said. He envisions the model spreading across corporate America, arguing that, "Every company in the world, over time, will be tokenized, meaning your shares will be tokens,” adding that users will employ digital tokens as “mechanisms of engagement with your customers and stakeholders."
