# Arc Mainnet Launch Brings 10B ARC Mint Into Focus > Source: > Published: 2026-09-16 16:33:00+00:00 Arc mainnet is now live, and Circle isn’t exactly starting small. The open Layer 1 blockchain for financial markets and agentic activity launched with more than 100 applications and over 100 institutions and ecosystem builders already live. ## Arc Mainnet Lands With Major Validators The founding validator list includes BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, ICE, Mastercard, SBI Group, Standard Chartered and Visa. Arc uses $USDC for gas and offers sub-second finality, putting stablecoin-based transactions directly into the network’s core infrastructure. Circle also completed the genesis mint of 10 billion $ARC tokens. There’s an important catch, though: Circle said the mint doesn’t commit it to launching a public token. ## Chainlink Services Arrive With Arc Chainlink is already live on Arc from day one. Through Chainlink Scale, Arc is making a substantial capital commitment to provide its ecosystem with cost-efficient access to institutional-grade oracle infrastructure. That includes CCIP, Data Feeds, Data Streams and Proof of Reserve. For Arc, the integration means key infrastructure is available as the mainnet moves into public operation rather than being added later. ## Robinhood Adds Another Route For $USDC Robinhood also announced it will soon support Arc, allowing users to deposit and withdraw $USDC directly on the network where supported. That gives Arc another connection to an established digital-asset platform. The pieces are now sitting together: institutional validators, more than 100 applications, Chainlink infrastructure, Robinhood support and 10 billion $ARC tokens minted at genesis. Still, the $ARC mint shouldn’t be confused with a confirmed public token launch. Circle’s statement leaves that question open.