Circle Announces Arc Genesis Validators Lineup, Public Mainnet to Launch on September 16

August 5th, Circle announced the founding validator lineup for its open blockchain network Arc and confirmed that the public mainnet will launch on September 16, 2026. Currently, Arc has onboarded over 100 ecosystem and institutional builders on its private mainnet.

The initial founding validators include BlackRock, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Galaxy Digital, Global Payments, Intercontinental Exchange, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui, and Visa. Circle stated that Arc is positioned to serve the global financial market, real-time fund transfers, and on-chain financial applications, emphasizing openness, composability, as well as institutional-grade compliance and security standards.

Furthermore, BlackRock is expected to deploy its BUIDL Fund on Arc; Circle is also collaborating with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, planning to support the tokenization of assets held by the Depository Trust Company on Arc starting in the second half of 2027.