Circle Internet Group Raises $222 Million in Arc Token Presale at $3 Billion Network Valuation

NEW YORK, May 11, 2026 — Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has raised $222 million in the presale of Arc, the native token of its new public blockchain, as the company moves beyond its core business of issuing digital dollars. The presale values the Arc network at $3 billion on a fully diluted basis and makes Circle the first publicly listed company to conduct a token presale, an early sale of digital tokens before a blockchain project officially launches.

A network designed for institutional finance

Arc is described as a public blockchain designed for institutional finance. "[Blockchain] infrastructure is becoming as important as mobile operating systems or cloud platforms," Circle Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire told CNBC. "We want to build an operating system that has many stakeholders involved in its governance and its infrastructure," he said, adding that Circle is "becoming a broader internet platform company" and is entering "the operating system business" through a multi-stakeholder distributed token-based network.

Allaire emphasized that Arc is about more than stablecoins and payments, noting that the network can "run the actual economy." "The economy is not just representations of values, it's every contract that undergirds those financial relationships ... the systems of governance that we use to govern all these institutions," he said.

Investors and terms of the presale

Key terms and participants

• Total raised: $222 million in the presale of the Arc token; fully diluted network valuation of $3 billion.
• Lead investor: a16z crypto, the crypto division of Andreessen Horowitz, with a $75 million investment.
• Other participants: BlackRock, Apollo Funds, Intercontinental Exchange (the parent of the New York Stock Exchange), SBI Group, Janus Henderson Investors, Standard Chartered Ventures, General Catalyst, Marshall Wace, ARK Invest, IDG Capital, Haun Ventures and Bullish, the crypto exchange and owner of CoinDesk.
• Token supply: an initial supply of 10 billion Arc tokens; Circle retains 25%, which lets it operate validator infrastructure, generate fee revenue and earn staking income.
• Network allocation: 60% of tokens go to participants who build on, use and contribute to the Arc network; the remaining 15% is allocated to a long-term reserve.
• Metric focus: Allaire said investors should follow transactions, asset issuance and the success of the developer community on the network.

Mixed first-quarter results and a strong share move

The funding announcement coincided with the company's mixed first-quarter results. Earnings per share of 21 cents beat expectations by 3 cents, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, while revenue of $694 million fell short of the $722 million expected. Circle shares were up 15.9% in trading on Monday, May 11, 2026, following the funding news and the quarterly report.

Developer tools for AI agents that pay with USDC

Alongside the raise, Circle unveiled a set of services and tools designed to help developers build AI agents that can manage transactions, access online services and make payments using USDC. Allaire said the economy is becoming increasingly machine-operated, with AI agents handling more of the operational and contractual work currently managed by humans. "We're entering this era where software machines will power the economic system," he said. "Software will do most of the work — that is what AI agents represent."

Why Circle is building its own rails

If Arc succeeds, it could allow Circle to own more of the infrastructure its flagship USDC stablecoin runs on. Today USDC depends heavily on networks like Ethereum and Solana for settlement and on distribution partners like Coinbase. "While USDC has become the trusted digital dollar for banks, corporations, and financial institutions seeking the speed of crypto without its volatility, there remains a problem. The internet infrastructure which USDC runs on today wasn't built with big institutions in mind. It was built for individuals and crypto enthusiasts. That's where Arc comes in," a16z crypto wrote in a blog post on the morning of the announcement.

The initiative is as much about defense as about growth. While regulation supporting stablecoins legitimizes them — including the GENIUS Act signed into law last year and the CLARITY Act, set for an initial vote this week in the Senate Banking Committee — some investors worry that banks and fintechs may launch their own competing dollar tokens, removing the need for a third-party issuer.

From the ICO era to compliant on-chain capital formation

Token sales, also known as initial coin offerings, or ICOs, became notorious for their role in fueling the 2017 crypto peak, when projects launched with little oversight and some failed or turned out to be scams. The landscape has shifted since then: under a more crypto-friendly regulatory posture, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is increasingly focused on frameworks for compliant tokenized securities and on-chain capital formation, conditions that could encourage a more mature return of ICO-style fundraising. "It is a major shift in how stakeholders can participate in the growth of networks," Allaire said. "Every company in the world, over time, will be tokenized, meaning your shares will be tokens ... [and] you will use digital tokens as mechanisms of engagement with your customers and stakeholders."

Company and contacts

Circle Internet Group

Contact: corporate communications of Circle Internet Group — company statements and the interview of Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire cited by CNBC in the source article; the source published no phone or e-mail contacts.

Website: https://www.circle.com/