finance
Circle Raises $222 Million in Arc Token Presale at $3 Billion Valuation
Circle beat Q1 2026 earnings estimates with EPS of $0.21 while reporting revenue of $694 million and USDC circulation of $77 billion. The company, led by CEO Jeremy Allaire, unveiled its Arc blockchain initiative with backing from Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock and other major investors. Arc began testing in October 2025 and is positioned as infrastructure for institutional finance.
May 11, 6:50 AM·2m read2 sources
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Circle raised $222 million in the presale of its Arc token, valuing the project at a fully diluted network valuation of $3 billion. Andreessen Horowitz led the presale with a $75 million investment. Investors in the Arc token presale include BlackRock, Apollo Funds, Intercontinental Exchange, SBI Group, Janus Henderson Investors, Standard Chartered Ventures, General Catalyst, Marshall Wace, ARK Invest, IDG Capital, Haun Ventures, and Bullish.
The company simultaneously reported first-quarter results that beat earnings expectations but missed on revenue. 17. Revenue reached $694 million, short of the $715 million forecast, even as it rose 20% from the year-earlier quarter.
Circle's Q1 2026 adjusted EBITDA was $151 million, reflecting 24% growth from the year-earlier quarter. 5 trillion, jumping over 260% from the year-earlier period. USDC in circulation increased 28% to $77 billion.
Arc began testing in October 2025. Circle published the Arc whitepaper on May 11, 2026. The blockchain is designed for institutional finance, with a focus on stablecoin-based capital markets, tokenized assets, cross-border settlement and on-chain activity.
Circle is a 25% stakeholder in Arc's initial supply of 10 billion tokens. Sixty percent of those tokens will go to participants who build on, use and contribute to the Arc network. Fifteen percent will be allocated to a long-term reserve.
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, described the project in broad terms. "[Blockchain] infrastructure is becoming as important as mobile operating systems or cloud platforms," Allaire said. "We want to build an operating system that has many, many stakeholders in it ...
