Circle Raises $222 Million in Arc Token Sale at $3 Billion Valuation

Circle is the issuer of the U.S. dollar stablecoin USDC, while Arc is its Layer 1 blockchain built for institutional finance, with a focus on stablecoin payments, asset tokenization and onchain settlement. The fundraising shows Circle expanding from a token issuer into a provider of financial infrastructure and reflects growing Wall Street investment in public-blockchain applications.

On May 11, 2026, Circle announced that it had raised $222 million by preselling 740 million ARC tokens at $0.30 each. Based on an initial supply of 10 billion tokens, the sale gave Arc a fully diluted valuation of $3 billion. a16z crypto led the round with a $75 million investment, joined by institutions including BlackRock, Apollo Funds, ARK Invest and SC Ventures.