Mainnet Approaches: A Comprehensive Overview of Circle's Native Blockchain Arc Ecosystem

Written by: Sanqing, Foresight News

Circle's native stablecoin blockchain Arc is currently in the public testnet phase, with the official mainnet Beta launch window set for summer 2026. During this period before the mainnet opens, several testnet projects have already gained a certain level of discussion on platform X, particularly focusing on categories with lower participation thresholds such as NFTs, Launchpads, and Memes. The third-party project directory ArcLens has recorded 308 projects claiming to be built on Arc.

Below is a list of payment infrastructure teams officially recognized by Circle, institutions listed on Arc's official ecosystem page, and community projects that are currently generating significant discussion. The data is current as of July 21, 2026, and the information is subject to rapid updates, provided for reference only.

1. Payment Infrastructure Teams Funded by Circle

The following eight teams are part of the first batch of funding from the Circle Developer Grant program in 2026, focusing on African and global southern markets.

Officially introduced on July 13, 2026, by Arc's official blog, these are among the few projects in the ecosystem that can provide real business data, primarily offering infrastructure services aimed at enterprises, with limited participation space for individual users. The following is listed in the order presented in the official blog.

Blockradar (@BlockradarHQ)

A wallet-as-a-service infrastructure that provides non-custodial wallet creation, gas-free transactions, real-time anti-money laundering checks, fund aggregation, and cross-chain liquidity through integrated APIs for fintech companies in emerging markets. According to Arc's official blog, it has processed over $600 million in payments for fintech clients in Africa and Latin America within the first 12 months of operation, covering 150,000 wallets and 700,000 transactions; the real-time data currently displayed on its website has grown to approximately $950 million, 182,000 wallets, and 973,000 transactions, which are continuously updated figures yet to be audited by a third party.

Hurupay (soon to be renamed Kolan, @kolan_xyz)

Provides dollar account services with real routing numbers for non-U.S. users and businesses, automatically converting funds to USDC upon receipt, allowing users to withdraw in local currency, make card purchases, or hold stablecoins for interest. Currently covers over 50 countries with 50,000 active users, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Argentina, and Brazil, processing over $100 million in transactions in 15 months.

Myaza (@myazahq)

A pan-African payment network supporting multi-currency wallets and instant transfers in 21 African currencies, driven by USDC and EURC cross-border settlements, and offering USD virtual cards, bill payments, and savings account features. It has over 25,000 registered users, with a month-on-month growth of 23%, and a cumulative transaction volume of approximately $15 million, having established infrastructure partnerships with Fincra, Yellow Card, and Bridge.

Arrel Technology (DAPL, @ArrelTechnology)

With 8 years of institutional-level digital asset infrastructure experience, its new product USDC Omni-Checkout & Treasury Router is built on Circle's CCTP, allowing African merchants to accept USDC/EURC payments without development, similar to using Stripe. Targeting global southern markets, it has an annual payment volume of $180 million, a year-on-year increase of 128%.

Payrit (@payritHQ)

A cross-border mobile wallet driven by USDC, where users only need to operate in local currency, with USDC conversion completed in the background for near real-time settlement. It has processed over 36,000 transactions worth more than $1.9 million for Nigerian users in cross-border transactions with the UK, Canada, and Africa, supporting EVM, Stellar, and Solana multi-chain wallets.

ViFi Labs (@ViFi_Labs)

A decentralized forex protocol for emerging market currencies, utilizing an AMM architecture designed for correlated assets, providing near-zero slippage exchanges for currency pairs such as the Nigerian Naira, Brazilian Real, and Colombian Peso. It is currently deployed on the Arc testnet and is advancing towards mainnet launch, with Arc serving as its primary liquidity and forex execution hub.

SFx Money (@usesfxmoneyapp)

A stablecoin digital bank initially serving the remittance needs of Turkish expatriates and African students, now evolved into a full-featured digital bank supporting free transfers between Turkey and over 16 African countries, the U.S., the U.K., and the EU. The user base has grown from about 300 in December 2024 to over 8,800 in July 2026, making it one of the few projects in this funding batch to receive Circle funding twice.

Flezpay (@flezpay)

Targeting African retail scenarios, it uses AI-driven smart QR codes to dynamically adjust product prices in real-time, integrating fiat and USDC payment processes at the checkout. It has connected with 1,613 retail stores, generating over $31,000 in monthly recurring revenue.

2. Other Official Ecosystem Partners

The Arc official ecosystem page currently lists over 100 verified institutional and project partners covering categories such as stablecoin issuance, infrastructure, trading, payments, and financial services.

This includes heavyweight institutions: BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Mastercard, Coinbase, as well as crypto-native institutions and infrastructure projects like Kraken, Bybit, Aave, Chainlink, LayerZero, Fireblocks, BitGo, Centrifuge, Morpho, Curve, and MetaMask.

3. Launchpad / DEX Category

TowerExchange

Arc's native stablecoin DEX aggregator, which has a leading recognition and discussion level in this category, was previously selected for the official Builder Spotlight showcase. In May 2026, it was specifically introduced in a post by Arc's official account, detailing its features and inviting a live demonstration. Participation method: the official website allows direct connection to the testnet wallet to experience exchange and liquidity features.

Radar DEX (formerly ArcDEXScan)

A token market tracking and issuance platform on the Arc mainnet, renamed and launched the new site radardex.io in July 2026, with the official claim of supporting the Arc mainnet. Functionally, it can track token prices, market capitalization, trading volume, and liquidity, and also includes a token launcher based on Uniswap v3 (with liquidity permanently locked), aggregating data from multiple trading channels such as Uniswap v2/v3/v4, DyorSwap, Noxa, and LiFi. Participation method: directly visit the official website to connect the wallet or join its Telegram group for bot notifications.

AstraPump

A Launchpad and DEX focusing on one-click token issuance and trading, ranking high on the Trending list of the third-party ecosystem directory ArcLens. Its fan base and tweet interactions are relatively prominent among similar projects, mainly attracting meme and testnet player groups.

Lunex

A Curve-style StableSwap AMM focusing on low-slippage exchanges for stablecoin pairs like USDC/EURC. It is marked as Established on ArcLens. Participation method: the official website allows direct connection to the wallet to experience exchange features.

4. AI / Infrastructure Category

hinkal_protocol

A privacy and confidential settlement protocol, announced its testnet launch in March 2026, with Arc's official account frequently reposting or mentioning its testnet updates, referring to it as "Day One Architect." Participation method: during the testnet phase, users can try its privacy transfer feature.

5. NFT Category

Orixa (ORIXIANS)

Arc's native NFT trading market, which will release the NFT series ORIXIANS after the mainnet launch. Orixa has not yet clarified whether it will issue tokens. Among similar projects, it has a relatively leading fan base and discussion heat. Participation method: users must first hold a testnet pass and complete identity verification on the official Discord before entering the whitelist registration.

Arc_Punks and ArcPunksNFT

Currently, there are two independent Punks concept projects on Arc: Arc_Punks claims to be the earliest Punks series on Arc EVM, while ArcPunksNFT is positioned as a genesis collection, with different teams and issuance plans, often discussed and compared together in the community. According to currently disclosed information, both plan to open public minting directly after the mainnet launch without requiring prior whitelist entry. Participation method: wait for the mainnet launch, at which point public minting will be directly available.

unemployeeonarc

A series of 10,000 "unemployed" themed NFTs, with an account style leaning towards quirky humor, often using memes related to "layoffs" and "unemployment applications" for updates, making it the most distinctive project in its category. Participation method: whitelist rules have not yet been announced; it is recommended to follow the official account and website for minting times.

ArcCitizens

Positioned as a community-governed, fully on-chain identity NFT. A single whitelist announcement triggered intense retweets and discussions in a short time, making it the most impactful real case in the NFT category, with verifiable evidence of real user participation (whitelist rules publicly disclosed, users following the process). Participation method: quote the official whitelist announcement with the caption "Arc is coming," change the profile picture to one of the official PFPs, and leave the wallet address in the comments. Previously, 100 spots were opened in one round, and subsequent rounds will need to follow official account announcements.

6. Meme Category

CatBatHatFatRat

With 10,000 followers, this is a meme project centered around the five words "Cat Bat Hat Fat Rat," possibly inspired by a video previously shared by the USDC official account. The official website provides a PFP generator, community message wall, and interactive features like waitlist/rankings.

The above information is compiled from the ArcLens ecosystem page, Circle/Arc official channels, and public discussions on platform X. Specific rules are subject to the latest announcements from the project officials, and participants should assess risks independently before engaging.

Safety Reminder: Recently, third-party websites claiming to be "ARC Bridge" (such as onbridge.xyz) have appeared online, with pages stating "Arc Mainnet live," enticing users to connect wallets and transfer at least 1,000 USDC to the "Arc Mainnet." Upon verification, the Arc official block explorer still clearly indicates it as Testnet, with no official Mainnet explorer or announcement.

Arc ecosystem contributor Panchu has also posted on X to educate: the underlying chain of the Arc mainnet is indeed generating blocks (chain ID 5042, block height exceeding 10.4 million, USDC contracts deployed), but this is only Circle's internal pre-release testing infrastructure, not yet open to the public.

Due to USDC's cross-chain reliance on the CCTP "burn---mint" two-step process, any third-party website claiming to bridge assets to the Arc mainnet can only complete the burn on the source chain, and the mint proof cannot be generated due to the mainnet not being officially open, resulting in asset disappearance and inability to return. He also mentioned that some people are buying so-called "mainnet USDC" at a premium of 30 to 100 times.

When the Arc mainnet truly goes live, the official will publicly announce it through @arc and Circle's official channels, and will not release it through private messages or rumors in advance. The only meaningful way to participate remains the testnet; please do not use any third-party "mainnet bridges" to transfer assets.

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