Circle Raises $222 Million for ARC Token Presale

Circle has agreed to sell 740 million ARC tokens in a private placement worth $222 million, with the funding round led by a16z Crypto. The deal values the Arc ecosystem at approximately $3 billion on a fully diluted basis.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed issuer of the USD Coin disclosed the token presale alongside its first-quarter 2026 financial results, which showed growth in revenue and reserve income despite a decline in net profit.

The investment round also included participation from major firms such as 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 signed the purchase agreements on Friday, pricing ARC tokens at $0.30 each under a private placement exempt from registration requirements under the US Securities Act of 1933. The token sale represents a significant step in Circle’s broader strategy to expand beyond stablecoin issuance and develop Arc as a settlement layer for stablecoin payments, tokenized assets, and programmable financial infrastructure.

Arc positioned as Circle’s blockchain “Economic OS”

Circle originally introduced Arc in August 2025 as an open layer-1 blockchain designed for stablecoin-based finance. On Monday, the company also released a whitepaper describing ARC as a “native coordination asset” intended to support governance, network security, and operational functions.

According to the whitepaper, Arc is designed as an “Economic OS” blockchain supporting tokenized financial markets and stablecoin applications. The network uses a hybrid consensus structure, combining permissioned validators with plans to transition toward a proof-of-stake (PoS) model from its current proof-of-authority (PoA) approach.

Circle stated that ARC will have a fixed initial supply of 10 billion tokens. Around 60% of the supply is allocated to ecosystem growth initiatives such as developer incentives and grants, while 25% is reserved for Circle to support governance, staking, and network development. The remaining 15% is intended to serve as a long-term reserve aimed at providing flexibility during periods of market stress or future operational requirements.

USDC growth supports revenue increase

Circle’s first-quarter financial results were largely supported by continued expansion in USDC usage and transaction activity. USDC circulation increased 28% year over year, reaching $77 billion by the end of the quarter, while onchain transaction volume jumped 263% to $21.5 trillion.

Total revenue and reserve income climbed 20% to $694 million, driven by earnings from USDC reserves and other business operations. Despite the revenue growth, net income declined 15% to $55 million as expenses rose significantly. Operating costs increased 76% to $242 million, mainly due to post-IPO stock-based compensation, payroll taxes, and continued investment in products, distribution, and infrastructure.

Even so, Circle’s adjusted EBITDA rose 24% to $151 million, indicating improvement in underlying operational performance. Shares of CRCL gained around 3% in premarket trading to $116.7, according to data from Yahoo Finance. The stock has risen roughly 12.2% over the past month and more than 40% year to date.

Sources:

https://www.circle.com/blog/introducing-arc-an-open-layer-1-blockchain-purpose-built-for-stablecoin-finance

https://6778953.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/6778953/PDFs/arc_whitepaper.pdf

https://cointelegraph.com/news/circle-raise-222-million-arc-token-presale-3-billion

https://www.circle.com/pressroom/circle-reports-first-quarter-2026-results

https://x.com/circle/status/2053785252037022157

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CRCL/