What would it look like if stablecoins had a better way of financing? After the official introduction of its Arc blockchain in August 2025, Circle has now announced the launch of its testnet. The stablecoin issuer Circle officially announced Arc’s public testnet, describing it as “the new Economic Operating System for the Internet.”
For newbies, a testnet is a rehearsal space where anyone, including developers, individual users, or companies, can experiment with new features before launching on the mainnet or live network.
What is Arc blockchain?
Arc is an open layer-1 blockchain network mainly built for stablecoin-powered financing. In a more flexible way, businesses can use the blockchain to make payments, exchange currencies, tokenize assets, and raise capital markets. As it is clear, Arc will use Circle’s USDC as the native gas token.
During its initial mention in August, Circle executives clearly wrote in a statement, “One truth has become clear: the industry needs blockchain infrastructure purpose-built for stablecoin finance.”
The current testnet of Arc is solely for developers to utilize its open tools and infrastructure for on-chain applications. They can try Arc’s tools, build and test apps, experiment with smart contracts, and provide feedback.
Arc testnet pushes for open internet economy
As Circle’s Co-Founder, Jeremy Allaire, puts it, Arc’s public testnet will see momentum as leading companies, protocols, and projects start to experiment with the blockchain. These companies serve billions of users globally and handle trillions of assets and payments.
Besides, these huge companies support local economies across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. This will help Arc connect local markets to the global economy, noted Jeremy Allaire.
Arc blockchain, once fully launched, can reshape global finance with stablecoins, as Circle executives point out. With USDC as its native gas token, the stablecoin issuer intends to power a more inclusive and internet-native financial system.
