Circle’s 2026 Strategy: Building Internet Financial Platform Through Arc and Stablecoins

TLDR: Arc testnet processed 150 million transactions in 90 days with 0.5-second average settlement times. USDC circulation grew 108% year-over-year, maintaining position as largest regulated dollar stablecoin. Circle Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol processed $126 billion volume across 19 connected blockchains. Circle Payments Network reached billions in annualized volume since May 2025 launch with major banks. Circle has outlined its comprehensive product strategy for 2026, focusing on three interconnected pillars that aim to establish a complete internet financial infrastructure. The company’s Chief Product and Technology Officer detailed plans encompassing blockchain infrastructure through Arc, digital assets including USDC, and applications like Circle Payments Network. This strategy represents Circle’s effort to connect open infrastructure with liquidity and applications to support economic coordination natively online. Arc Blockchain and Developer Tools Drive Infrastructure Layer Circle’s Arc blockchain serves as the foundation for its internet financial platform vision. The Layer-1 blockchain launched its public testnet on October 28, 2025, processing over 150 million transactions in its first 90 days. Nearly 1.5 million transacting wallets participated during this period, with transactions settling in approximately 0.5 seconds on average. Circle described Arc as designed to provide businesses and financial institutions with a trusted foundation for internet-native economic coordination. The network features stablecoin-based transaction fees and deterministic sub-second finality for every transaction. Privacy features support institutional requirements around governance and compliance. Developer infrastructure plays a crucial role in Circle’s platform strategy. Circle Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) has processed $126 billion in cumulative volume as of December 2025. The protocol connects 19 of the 30 blockchains where USDC is natively available. Circle ...