Circle Second Growth Curve: CRCL or ARC
By Zhou, ChainCatcher
On 11 May, while publishing the financial statements for the first quarter of 2026, Circe announced that the original currency of Arc, the public chain, had completed $222 million in advance sales and that the network had completely diluted the estimate of $3 billion。
Of this amount, a16z crypto received $75 million in investments from ICE, ICE, SBI Group, Scum Scrolls, ARK Invest and others。
CRCL STOCK PRICES INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY BY NEARLY 16 PER CENT THAT DAY AND THE MARKET VALUE ROSE TO 3CC BY-NC-ND 2.0$0.0 billionAboveI don't know。
PictureSource:RootData
The market then raises a central question: Circe is already a listed company, and if it looks to its future, it can hold the CRCL stock directly. Why issue the ARC token? Both capture the value of the Arc network. What is the value of each
ICircle, why build yourself, Arc
Why not continue to publish and use USDC on the Ether House or Solana, instead of building a public chain of its own at great expense
a16z CriptoIt explains thatAs global finance moves up the chain, only a few public chains will be able to carry “the bottom of the economic system on the chain”。
Last year, the stabilization currency was on a scale of $9 trillion, at the same level as the global payment networks of Visa, PayPal and othersI don't knowCROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS, B2B SETTLEMENTS AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRANSACTIONS ARE BECOMING THE CORE SCENE OF A STABLE CURRENCY THAT HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO THE CORE OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE。
However, the existing block chain infrastructure is still primarily oriented towards encrypted primary users and individual developers, lacking primary support for large institutional-level needs。
ProfessionalNoteThe core pains that institutions face when operating on the chain include the need for complete closure of assets under the chain for release and redemption, the need for certainty in payment, the need for a lower level of compliance capacity, the availability of privacy protection, and the use of USDC to achieve predictable Gas costsWaitI don't know。
These needs are difficult to meet with existing public chains such as Taifung and Solana。
YeahCircleTell meI don't knowOver thereCompanyMAINLY RELYING ON USDC RESERVE INTERESTI don't knowFirst quarterUSDC FLOWS REACHED $77 BILLION, AN INCREASE OF 28 PER CENT OVER THE SAME PERIODI don't know。As the scale of operations continues to grow, reliance on existing public chains alone will no longer fully match the deeper needs of institutional clients。
Therefore..I don't knowOne of the central purposes of the Circle launch Arc was to fill this gap. Stabilizing currency flows in someone else's chain does not mean that stabilizing currency and finance belongs to itself — that's the bottom logic of Circle's decision to build L1。
PictureSource:XUser@vanisaxxm
USDC SOLVES THE TRANSACTION, ARC SOLVES THE COORDINATION
Since USDC is already Arc's Gas, why send an ARC
THE ISSUE OF STABILITY AT THE TRANSACTION LEVEL HAS BEEN WELL ADDRESSED BY USDC. AGENCIES CAN PAY FEES DIRECTLY IN UNITED STATES DOLLARS, AT PREDICTABLE AND ACCOUNTABLE COSTS, AVOIDING THE TROUBLES THAT THE PRICE VOLATILITY OF ENCRYPTED ASSETS POSES FOR THE FINANCIAL SECTOR。
However, for the network to function well in the long term, it is not enough to simply address transactional issues, but also to address coordination issues。
According to the official White Paper, Arc will gradually transition from the current PoA to POS. Validation nodes require pledge of assets to secure the network, and at the heart of the pledge is the act of tying nodes with economic benefits, which, if committed, is liable to forfeiture. The USDC has a constant value of US$ 1 and can't really bind a node to a networkI don't knowONLY PRIMARY CURRENCY ARC CAN PROVIDE THIS DYNAMIC ECONOMIC INCENTIVE。
AT THE GOVERNANCE LEVEL, TOO, BENEFITS NEED TO BE TIED. KEY DECISIONS, SUCH AS FEES, INFLATION PARAMETERS AND DESTRUCTION RATIOS, REQUIRE A LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE FROM PARTICIPANTS. IF VOTING IS DONE WITH USDC ALONE, THE HOLDER IS PRONE TO LACK OF SUSTAINED MOTIVATION AND CAN LEAVE AFTER VOTING. THE ARC HOLDERS ' ASSET VALUES ARE DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NETWORK AND ARE MORE MOTIVATED TO MAKE CHOICES CONDUCIVE TO ITS LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT。
At the same time, the White Paper makes it clear that ARC ' s governance has a temporal boundary. The economic parameters are determined by the vote of the currency holders, but important matters such as the upgrading of agreements, the handling of security incidents and the certification of nodal qualification are initially retained by the Circe and will be progressively decentralized as governance mechanisms mature。
In short, USDC is the blood of the Arc network, which is responsible for the efficient flow of the day-to-day movement; ARC is the network's equity, which binds interests together for a long time. This dual-currency design has also transformed the cost of ecological construction from fixed cash expenditure in Circle to incentive arrangements linked to network success or failure。
III. CRCL AND ARC: WHICH CAKES ARE THEY EATING
As a result, Circe also has shares in listed companies, CRCL and ARC, both of which capture the value of the same Arc network. So, which cake are they eating
According to the White Paper, the total supply of Arc is 10 billion ARC tokens, with a clear distribution: 60 per cent for ecosystems, including developers ' incentives, network growth schemes and user participation incentives; 25 per cent for Circle to operate certification nodes, pledge and governance; and 15 per cent for network stability and strategic flexibility as long-term reserves。
With respect to the cost mechanism, all agreement costs on Arc are fully converted to ARC at the level of the agreement, partly permanently destroyed, and partly distributed to pledge and certifying officers, irrespective of the asset to be paid by the user. The more active the network, the stronger the ARC value capture。
The CRCL shareholders profit mainly through the Circle level. The company continues to benefit from the core income of interest on the USDC reserve, as well as from other business growth, such as the payment network CPN. At the same time, Circle owns 25% of the ARC, and can indirectly share the awards at the network level。
The encryption analyst BTCdayu proposes a three-dimensional valuation framework to understand CRCL: the first dimension is the interest income from the reserve, which is currently the most stable cash flow and constitutes the valuation floor; the second dimension is the payment of network revenue, which is expected to be close to the Visa model of network fees as the CPN scale expands; and the third dimension is the value of network options brought by Arc, which the market expects for the transition of Circle from a stable currency distributor to a financial infrastructure platform。
In short, CRCL captures stable cash flows and the growth of existing operations in the company as a whole, and ARC captures growth elasticity at the network level, including Gas cost conversion, ecological expansion and long-term network effects。
The two form a distinct two-track structure. The more successful the Arc network, the greater the use of USDC and the greater the synergy of its operations, the greater the benefits of the Circe corporate level; and the increase in the value of ARC tokens, as well as the 25 per cent share held by Circe, will add value and eventually be channelled to the CRCL shareholders。
However, they are completely independent at the legal level。OfficialIt is mentioned that ARC does not represent the shares of Circle and does not make any claim against Circle ' s income, profits, assets or CRCL shares. This means that ARC holders do not have fiduciary protection for shareholders in listed companies, and the proceeds depend entirely on the actual adoption of the network and the design of token economics。
IV. How ordinary users participate in furry
ONCE THE DISTRIBUTION OF VALUES BETWEEN CRCL AND ARC IS CLARIFIED, THE REAL QUESTION IS: TO WHOM DO ARC COINS REALLY GO? HOW CAN ORDINARY USERS PARTICIPATE AT A LOW COST
The first type of buyer is an institutional strategic investor. They entered the field for $222 million at a unit price of $0.3 with lock-in periods ranging from 1 to 4 years. This group not only provides funding, but also most of the potential users and builders of Arc. BlackRock, for example, has tested on the Internet the monetization of assets, and ICE, as the parent company of New Haven and as one of Japan's largest financial groups, is pre-deploying for future operations on Arc。
THE SECOND CATEGORY CONSISTS OF ECOLOGICAL BUILDERS AND LONG-TERM HOLDERS. DEVELOPERS, MOBILE PROVIDERS GET ARC INCENTIVES THROUGH CONTRIBUTIONS, AND 60% OF THE ECOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION IS PREPARED FOR THIS. THEY PLACE GREATER EMPHASIS ON THE LONG-TERM GROWTH OF NETWORKS, SIMILAR TO EARLY EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP OF CORPORATE EQUITY。
The third category consists of retail speculators and participants. They focused on early narrative opportunities and ecological incentives and looked forward to price elasticity after the main online line。
For ordinary users who do not qualify for pre-sale, Arc provides several low-cost participation pathways。
Arc Testnet was launched in October 2025 and has so far processed more than 244 million test transactions, and the main network is expected to go online in the summer of 2026. Users are freeGet the test tokenOperations such as Swap, Bridge, contractual deployment, etc., familiar with network interaction。
The Arc House community is the main entry point for ordinary users. Users can accumulate points by registering a community, staying active, posting, reading content and participating in questions and answers. There will be extra points for the answer to be adopted。
The way forward includes content contributions, video-sharing, campaign organization, and even underline Meetup hosts. In addition, users who have a team or product can apply for Circle Developer Grants。
It should be noted that Arc House credits are recognized only for community contributions, have no monetary value and do not guarantee any specific distribution of rights, which is subject to the latest official publication。
Concluding remarks
The current level of competition in the chain tracks is not unique to Arc。
The Digital Assembly, which belongs to Canton Network, is completing a new round of financing with a valuation of approximately $2 billion, with a 16z crypto taking the lead; Plasma locates stable currency home-based settlements, making the valuation relatively more attractive; and Visa has included projects such as Arc, Canton, Plasma, Base, Tempo and others in the stabilization currency settlement test point in April. This indicates that the track is still at a stage of parallel and competitive development。
Against this background, Arc $3 billion presold FDV is relatively high. Bulk participation in secondary markets requires a full assessment of project narrative potential and competition patterns within the tracks。
IN THE LONG RUN, ARC, WHICH HOLDS BETWEEN 2 AND 3 PER CENT OF ANNUAL INFLATION, REQUIRES THE NETWORK TO GENERATE SUFFICIENT REAL FEES TO OFFSET INCREASED PRESSURE TO ACHIEVE VALUE GROWTH. THE CRCL, ON THE OTHER HAND, RELIES ON THE INTEREST AND PAYMENT NETWORK INCOME OF THE USDC RESERVE, SUPPORTED BY RELATIVELY CLEAR CASH FLOWS. THE TWO FACE DIFFERENT RISK-BENEFIT STRUCTURES。
In the short term, market sentiment often has its own logic. Before and after the main online line, the period during which the narrative is concentrated may offer a phased opportunity, at which time 25 per cent of the ARC held by Circle will also add value, with the same benefits for the CRCL shareholders。
At the regulatory level, the landing of GENIUS Act underpins the Corcle ' s moat, while the new CLARITY Act draft has been made public and is currently being advanced in Congress, and is expected to provide clearer regulatory certainty for digital asset ecology。
Overall, Arc is one of the major strategic initiatives currently being undertaken by Circle, and the White Paper states that “a global economic operating system cannot be coordinated by a single entity, which transforms the participants who use Arc into those who maintain Arc”. Ultimately, the realization of this vision will depend on the ability of the main online line to attract real institutional transactions and economic activities on a sufficiently large scale。
All narratives remain narratives until all data are actually landed。
