Circle Internet Group has publicly launched Arc, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for financial markets, payments, and automated economic activity. According to Circle, Arc begins operations with more than 100 applications and over 100 institutional and ecosystem builders. Its founding validators include BlackRock, Mastercard, Visa, DTCC, ICE, MoneyGram, Standard Chartered, SBI Group, and Worldpay. Arc uses USDC for transaction fees, removing the requirement for users to acquire a volatile native token.