Circle's Arc Blockchain Launches, but Memecoin Trading Dominates Day One

Circle described the network as its most significant launch since USDC, positioning it as infrastructure for institutional finance and an emerging machine-driven economy, according to BitKE. The company raised over $200 million in a token presale for the project.

Despite its institutional design, speculative traders quickly became the most visible users on launch day. BitKE reported that Arc processed roughly 7.83 million transactions in its first 24 hours, while lifetime USDC transfers stood at about 624,000, based on Arc's Blockscout explorer. This suggests the bulk of early activity was unrelated to the payments use case the network was built for.

The network also drew about 400,000 new accounts and more than 73,000 deployed contracts. Decentralized exchange activity reached roughly $82 million on the first day, with newly launched memecoins accounting for much of it. Several of the most actively traded tokens later fell sharply from their launch highs, including TOLLY, LONG and COOL.

The European Central Bank has introduced Pontes, a settlement system linking its payment infrastructure to blockchain-based markets, with full implementation targeted for 2028.