Circle has launched Arc, a Layer-1 blockchain (base network) designed for stablecoins and AI agents rather than only human users. Chief Product and Technology Officer Nikhil Chandhok said during the September 16 mainnet launch that Arc is intended to expand onchain activity, not simply shift users from Ethereum. The network uses USDC as its native gas token, enabling dollar-denominated fees, and offers sub-second deterministic finality through Circle's Malachite consensus engine. Its Agent Stack, rolled out in May 2026 after a public testnet began in October 2025, provides tools including provenance proofs, reputation systems and nanopayments for autonomous software. Arc's ARC token has a fixed initial supply of 10 billion, while Circle raised $222 million in a private presale of 740 million tokens at $0.30 each, implying a roughly $3 billion post-sale valuation. BlackRock, Visa and Mastercard are among the launch validators. Circle says it is providing infrastructure for third-party developers and enterprises, rather than building the applications itself, with USDC integration creating a potential demand loop for both the stablecoin and the network.