Circle, the company behind the world’s second largest stablecoin by market capitalization, has raised $222 million through the presale of a token connected to its upcoming blockchain network called Arc.
The funding round pushed the project’s fully diluted valuation to approximately $3 billion. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire also revealed that the company plans to expand beyond infrastructure and move into the applications sector.
Major Financial Firms Join the Investment Round
The investment round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, commonly known as A16z. Other major participants included Apollo Funds, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Bullish, Intercontinental Exchange, SBI Group, and Standard Chartered Ventures.
Circle also released its first quarter earnings report, which highlighted significant growth across its stablecoin ecosystem.
According to the report, the amount of USDC in circulation increased by 28% during the first quarter, reaching $77 billion.
Even more notably, on chain transaction volume involving USDC surged more than 260%, climbing to $21.5 trillion.
The company reported total revenue and reserve income of $694 million for the quarter, representing a 20% increase compared to previous results.
Arc Token White Paper Goes Live
Circle officially published the white paper for its upcoming ARC token, outlining the token’s proposed role within the Arc blockchain ecosystem.
The document explained that the token is expected to function as a native coordination asset designed to support governance, network security, and operational activities across the blockchain.
Speaking with CNBC, CEO Jeremy Allaire said Circle is positioning itself as more than just a stablecoin provider.
According to Allaire, the company is now entering what he described as the “operating system business” by building a distributed, multi stakeholder network powered by a native token.
He also confirmed that Circle intends to expand into the applications business as part of its broader strategy.
Circle Pushes Toward AI Driven Financial Infrastructure
Allaire further explained that the company’s upcoming Agent Stack initiative is intended to create trusted infrastructure for AI native economic activity and a more programmable internet based financial system.
Meanwhile, Circle’s stock ticker CRCL gained more than 2% in pre market trading activity.
The company’s shares had already surged around 20% the previous week after two US senators reportedly reached a bipartisan compromise on key issues surrounding the long anticipated stablecoin legislation in the United States.#crypto#cryptonews https://coinsignals.net https://t.me/coinsignalpublic
