Circle Releases ARC White Paper, Sets Initial Supply at 10 Billion Tokens

Circle, the issuer of USDC, has released the white paper for ARC, the native token of its new Arc layer-1 blockchain. ARC will have an initial supply of 10 billion tokens, with 60% allocated to ecosystem growth and developer support.

BlockBeats reported on May 11 that Circle published the ARC white paper the same day, detailing Arc’s network architecture and token economic model.

Arc is a public layer-1 blockchain that aims to serve as an “Economic OS” for the internet economy. Circle said it is intended to act as shared infrastructure for economic contracts, stablecoins, tokenized assets and global financial markets.

ARC is the native utility token of the Arc network. It is designed for staking, governance, fee distribution and platform functions. Circle said the token does not represent equity in the company or a claim on its profits, and that its economic value stems from network participation and usage.

ARC’s initial supply is 10 billion tokens. Of that amount, 60% is allocated to the ecosystem, 25% to Circle and 15% to a long-term reserve. The ecosystem allocation is intended for token sales, developer support and network growth.

The token model calls for gradual inflation of 2% to 3% a year initially to reward validators and stakers. Over the longer term, Circle aims for an inflation-neutral structure in which token burns generated by network activity offset new issuance.

Protocol fees will be converted internally into ARC even when users pay in other assets such as USDC. Part of those fees will be distributed to validators and stakers, while the rest will be permanently burned.

Circle also outlined the network’s governance structure. After Arc transitions to a proof-of-stake system, key economic variables including fee rates, inflation and burn policy will be decided by ARC stakers through voting.

Core operational functions, including protocol upgrades, security response and validator management, will initially remain under Circle’s control. Those responsibilities will later be transferred gradually to token holder-led governance.

Arc’s public testnet launched in October 2025 and had processed a cumulative 244.1 million transactions as of May 5. The mainnet is scheduled to launch this summer.