Arc mainnet goes live – Can USDC’s $74B scale fuel network growth?
Arc launches with USDC at its core, while major financial players prepare to bring activity onto the new network.
On the 16th of September, Arc launched their first public mainnet to bring USDC directly into the network’s core design. Unlike other chains, which utilize a separate token for gas, Arc utilizes USD Coin [USDC] as the fee and settlement currency.
This maintains cost in dollars and will likely make it easier to manage treasuries for institutional users. Simultaneously, deterministic sub-second finality targets payments and capital market activity, where even minor delay can create friction.
The network also starts with 11 external validators, including BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard, and DTCC. In addition, over 100 developers created an application prior to the launch of the platform.
In order for Arc to successfully leverage the large scale of USDC into continuous activity on their network, they will have to overcome one major hurdle. This will be converting USDC’s existing scale into sustained activity on its network.
Arc enters the USDC settlement race
Arc enters the public mainnet with more than a test run behind it. Its testnet recorded about 735 million transactions before going live and had over 74.1 million transactions within thirty days.
In comparison, as of the 24th of July, USDC had approximately $74.2 billion in circulation and processed $14.8 trillion, marking a 151% increase in Q2. However, most of that activity remains on other chains.
Meanwhile, USDC already reaches about seven million meaningful wallets, which would provide Arc with a substantial number of potential users to tap into. The network also opens application access while keeping validation under approved operators.
This setup could appeal to institutions seeking faster and more controlled transactions. More importantly, Arc now has a chance to turn early activity into real financial use.
However, the real test will come after launch, when payment flows and institutional transactions show whether early interest becomes lasting demand.
Can tokenization drive Arc’s growth?
Meanwhile, tokenized assets may provide Arc an additional area of engagement, beyond payment processing. There are currently over $38.9 billion worth of on-chain Real World Assets (RWAs) in circulation within the global digital asset market, excluding stablecoins.
This includes mostly tokenized treasuries and money-market funds. For instance, BUIDL, which is a single tokenized money market fund, has assets exceeding $2.5 billion.
Activity resulting from these assets occurs due to the purchase, redemption, or transfer of the underlying assets. As such, Arc’s USDC-based platform can facilitate these types of activities as well as many others for institutional entities looking into tokenized markets.
That could give the network recurring demand beyond simple payments. However, Arc has only just opened its mainnet, so meaningful asset flows have yet to emerge.
The key signal will be whether tokenized asset activity brings sustained USDC settlement onto Arc rather than remaining elsewhere.
Final Summary
- Arc launches with USDC at its core, targeting institutional payments and faster settlement.
- Tokenization could add recurring demand as Arc grows.
