Arc Blockchain as Financial Infrastructure
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire recently described the company’s new Arc blockchain as “an economic OS for the internet” during an interview at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh. He made the case that fundamental financial operations are increasingly moving on-chain, which creates a need for predictable costs and reliable performance. The system appears designed specifically for payments, foreign exchange activities, lending operations, and capital markets work.
Arc features dollar-denominated fees, sub-second settlement times, and privacy controls that let enterprises protect sensitive financial information when necessary. The public testnet launched on October 28, with mainnet deployment planned for 2026 after builders have time to test smart contracts, transaction flows, and token launches.
USDC’s Role in Emerging Markets
Allaire positioned USDC as the practical bridge for these financial use cases. He pushed back against suggestions that stablecoin growth has stagnated, noting that usage has actually expanded throughout 2025. Demand from emerging markets seems particularly strong, with businesses looking to settle transactions in dollars while avoiding the friction of traditional cross-border banking systems.
The Middle East specifically has become a significant region for digital dollar usage, where companies use stablecoins to move value quickly between trading partners. This regional focus aligns with Circle’s expansion plans in the UAE, where regulatory developments are positioning the company to support institutions wanting on-chain dollar payment infrastructure.
Policy Clarity Driving Adoption
Recent U.S. legislation around payment stablecoins appears to be helping larger corporations integrate stablecoin payments, foreign exchange operations, and credit workflows. Allaire connected this policy clarity with growing enterprise adoption, suggesting that when the regulatory environment becomes more predictable, businesses feel more comfortable building on these new financial rails.
More than 100 companies across banking, payments, large technology firms, and AI companies participated in the Arc announcement. The business model seems transactional and ecosystem-focused rather than creating a walled garden controlled by a single company.
Practical Enterprise Applications
The core proposition is straightforward: Arc provides a dollar-priced, high-throughput environment for stablecoin-native finance, while USDC serves as both the settlement mechanism and fee unit that developers can reliably plan around. For enterprises, the appeal lies in predictable costs, fast transaction finality, and compliance-friendly privacy features that could move more core financial operations to programmable infrastructure.
Allaire’s comments suggest that while the technology is sophisticated, the value proposition is practical – giving businesses the tools to conduct financial operations with the efficiency of blockchain technology while maintaining the stability and predictability they need for serious financial applications. The testnet phase will likely reveal whether the system can deliver on these promises at scale.
