Circle Raises $222M ARC Token Presale Led by a16z

Circle Internet Group agreed to sell 740 million ARC tokens for $222 million in a private placement led by a16z Crypto, valuing the Arc blockchain network at $3 billion on a fully diluted basis.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed issuer of the USDC stablecoin disclosed the token presale Monday alongside its first-quarter 2026 results, which showed higher revenue and reserve income but lower net income.

The round was led by a16z Crypto and backed by a consortium including BlackRock, Apollo Funds, ARK Invest, Bullish, General Catalyst, Haun Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, IDG Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, SBI Group and Standard Chartered Ventures.

Circle entered into the token purchase agreements on Friday, agreeing to sell the ARC tokens at $0.30 each in a private placement exempt from registration under the US Securities Act of 1933.

The sale marks a major step in Circle’s effort to expand beyond stablecoin issuance into blockchain infrastructure, as the company seeks to build Arc into a settlement layer for stablecoin finance, tokenized assets and programmable financial markets.

Circle first introduced Arc in August 2025 as an open layer-1 blockchain focused on stablecoin finance. It also published a whitepaper on Monday, describing ARC as a “native coordination asset” designed to support governance, security and network operations on the system.

ARC token powers Circle’s “Economic OS” blockchain

Circle’s Arc whitepaper describes ARC as the native token of its layer-1 “Economic OS” blockchain built for stablecoin-based finance and tokenized markets.

The network uses a hybrid consensus approach, combining permissioned validators with a planned shift toward proof-of-stake (PoS) from the proof-of-authority (PoA) consensus model.

ARC’s five interconnected functions. Source: ARC

Circle said ARC has a fixed initial supply of 10 billion tokens allocated across three buckets, with about 60% going to the ecosystem for developers, grants and network growth, while 25% is reserved for Circle to support development, staking and governance participation.

The company said the remaining 15% is set aside as a long-term reserve to provide flexibility and stability during market stress or future network needs.

Related: Canton Network creator targets $300M in capital raise: Report

Circle’s Q1 revenue rises as USDC growth offsets higher costs

Circle’s financial performance in the first quarter was driven primarily by continued growth in USDC circulation and transaction activity.

USDC in circulation rose 28% year over year to $77.0 billion at quarter end, while onchain transaction volume surged 263% to $21.5 trillion. Total revenue and reserve income, which includes earnings from USDC reserves and other business lines, rose 20% to $694 million.

Source: Circle

Net income fell 15% to $55 million, as higher costs outweighed revenue growth. Operating expenses rose 76% to $242 million, driven mainly by post-IPO stock-based compensation and related payroll taxes, along with continued investment in product, distribution and infrastructure.

Even so, Circle’s underlying business performance improved, with adjusted EBITDA rising 24% to $151 million.

Circle (CRCL) stock price chart year-to-date. Source: Yahoo Finance

Circle (CRCL) shares were up around 3% in premarket trading to $116.7, extending recent gains, according to Yahoo Finance. The stock is up around 12.2% over the past month and more than 40% year to date.

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