Circle has launched the public testnet of its first-layer blockchain, Arc. The network is positioned as a new “economic operating system” for developers and enterprises.
Arc Public Testnet is now live.
Open to developers and enterprises globally, Arc is the Economic OS for the internet that unites programmable money and onchain innovation with real-world economic activity.
Start building: https://t.co/RMjxJmjcsH
Learn more:… pic.twitter.com/OtGfrCIVdY— Arc (@arc) October 28, 2025
The initiative has garnered support from over 100 organizations, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, Visa, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
According to the team, Arc offers “predictable dollar fees, transaction finality in less than a second, and customizable privacy.” The network is directly integrated with Circle’s products.
Developers will be able to use the blockchain to create applications in lending, capital markets, currency exchange, and global payments.
Financial giants Apollo, BNY, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Societe Generale, and State Street are participating in the testing. They are joined by payment systems Mastercard and Visa, as well as tech companies Cloudflare and AWS.
The project is also supported by market makers Wintermute and GSR, exchanges Coinbase and Kraken, wallets MetaMask and Ledger, protocols Aave and Uniswap Labs.
Robert Mitchnick of BlackRock noted that exploring Arc will provide insights into how stablecoin settlements can enhance capital market efficiency.
In the future, Circle plans to transfer network governance to the community of participants. The company envisions Arc as a neutral and collaboratively governed layer of economic infrastructure on the internet.
Back in August, Circle announced the launch of its own blockchain. It was later revealed that the issuer would integrate Arc with the institutional platform Fireblocks.