Circle Unveils Arc Blockchain Testnet
Date: 2025-10-29 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: BLOCKCHAIN
Circle has launched a public testnet for its Layer 1 blockchain, Arc. This project is designed for companies and developers seeking to bring financial activity online. At launch, over a hundred partners from across various regions, including leading financial institutions, technology companies, and infrastructure providers, have joined the initiative.
Circle first announced Arc in August 2025, positioning it as the "economic operating system of the internet." The blockchain is designed to become a platform for building the infrastructure of the global digital economy. Its advantages include low and stable dollar fees, lightning-fast transaction confirmations (less than a second), support for optional privacy, and deep integration with Circle's technology stack. The network is designed for use in credit transactions, international settlements, capital markets, and foreign exchange transactions.
Circle CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire noted that active participation from major players is already being observed during the testnet phase. He stated, "Arc brings together companies and protocols that interact with billions of users and transact trillions of dollars annually. Arc's goal is to connect local markets with the global economy."
Currently, Circle is leading the project's development, but in the future, governance is planned to be transferred to a distributed community of validators and partners, including banks, tech companies, and infrastructure developers. Next steps include increasing the number of validators, creating a transparent governance model, and expanding community participation. Allaire emphasized that the ultimate goal is to transform Arc into "an open and neutral economic layer for the internet."
The initial testnet participants included BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Invesco, Mastercard, Nuvei, SBI Holdings, Standard Chartered, Société Générale, State Street, and Visa. Representatives of these companies noted Arc's potential for the development of digital finance. BlackRock emphasized the importance of on-chain settlements in stablecoins, which could improve the efficiency of capital markets. HSBC announced its intention to explore ways to speed up international transfers while maintaining a high level of security. Mastercard sees potential in the development of programmable payments and the creation of a secure architecture for new settlement scenarios.
To implement Arc, Circle acquired Malachite consensus technology from Informal Systems, which is the foundation for the new network. Nine Informal Systems employees have also joined the project.
As Allaire noted, Arc will enable businesses to build solutions on enterprise-grade infrastructure, creating an open, transparent, and efficient global economy that operates natively on the internet.
