Arc public mainnet went live September 16, 2026 on chain ID 5042. USDC is gas token; block times near 506ms with instant finality.
Eleven institutions validate alongside Circle: BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo, Visa. Validator set is permissioned; deployment and transacting are open.
No ARC token launched despite coordination-token mint of 10B referenced in Circle materials — fees remain in USDC. Arc opened one day after CLARITY Act cloture failed in the Senate.