Circle’s native stablecoin blockchain Arc is still in its public testnet phase, with the official beta mainnet window set for summer 2026. Before that launch happens, a number of testnet projects have begun to build traction on X, with much of the discussion clustered around lower-barrier categories such as NFTs, launchpads and meme projects. Third-party directory ArcLens has listed 308 projects that say they are building on Arc.
According to Foresight News, the most talked-about names in the ecosystem currently fall into several groups. The first five are community projects drawing the most attention. A separate section covers payment infrastructure teams that have been named by Circle and have disclosed actual business metrics. Another section briefly notes institutional partners listed on Arc’s official ecosystem page. The data in the report is current as of July 21, 2026, and the outlet notes that project information can change quickly.
Eight payment infrastructure teams backed by Circle
The report first highlights eight teams included in the first 2026 batch of the Circle Developer Grant program, focused on Africa and the Global South. Arc’s official blog named the projects on July 13, 2026. Foresight described them as some of the few Arc-related teams that can point to real operating data, though most are business-facing infrastructure providers with limited direct participation for retail users.
Blockradar
Blockradar (@BlockradarHQ) offers wallet-as-a-service infrastructure for fintech companies in emerging markets. Its product stack includes non-custodial wallet creation, gasless transactions, real-time AML screening, treasury collection and cross-chain liquidity APIs. Arc’s official blog said the company processed more than $600 million in payments in its first 12 months, covering 150,000 wallets and 700,000 transactions for fintech customers in Africa and Latin America. On its own website, Blockradar now shows roughly $950 million in volume, 182,000 wallets and 973,000 transactions, though those figures are updated by the team and have not been third-party audited.
Hurupay / Kolan
Hurupay, which is preparing to rebrand as Kolan (@kolan_xyz), provides non-U.S. users and businesses with U.S. dollar accounts that come with real routing numbers. Once funds arrive, they are automatically converted into USDC. Users can withdraw into local currency, spend with cards or hold stablecoins for yield. The service says it has reached more than 50 countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Argentina and Brazil, with 50,000 active users and more than $100 million processed over 15 months.
Myaza
Myaza (@myazahq) is building a pan-African payments network with multicurrency wallets and instant transfers across 21 African currencies. Cross-border settlement runs on USDC and EURC, and the product also includes U.S. virtual cards, bill payments and savings accounts. The company reports more than 25,000 registered users, 23% month-over-month growth and about $15 million in cumulative transaction volume. It has also partnered on infrastructure with Fincra, Yellow Card and Bridge.
Arrel Technology
Arrel Technology (DAPL, @ArrelTechnology) says it has eight years of experience in institutional digital asset infrastructure. Its newer product, USDC Omni-Checkout & Treasury Router, is built on Circle’s CCTP and is designed to let African merchants accept USDC and EURC without writing code, in a setup the report compares to using Stripe. The company is focused on the Global South and reports $180 million in annual payment volume, up 128% year over year.
Payrit
Payrit (@payritHQ) is a USDC-powered cross-border mobile wallet. Users transact in local fiat, while USDC conversion happens in the background to deliver near real-time settlement. The company says it has processed more than 36,000 cross-border transactions worth over $1.9 million for Nigerian users moving funds across the U.K., Canada and Africa. It supports wallets across EVM, Stellar and Solana.
ViFi Labs
ViFi Labs (@ViFi_Labs) is developing a decentralized foreign exchange protocol for emerging market currencies. It uses an AMM design tailored to correlated assets and aims to deliver near-zero-slippage swaps for pairs involving the Nigerian naira, Brazilian real and Colombian peso. The protocol is already deployed on Arc testnet and is working toward a mainnet launch, with Arc intended to serve as its main liquidity and FX execution hub.
SFx Money
SFx Money (@usesfxmoneyapp) began as a stablecoin-based digital banking service for remittances used by the Turkish diaspora and African students. It has since expanded into a broader digital bank supporting free transfers between Turkey, more than 16 African countries, the U.S., the U.K. and the European Union. Its user base grew from about 300 in December 2024 to more than 8,800 in July 2026. Foresight said it is one of the few teams in this grant cohort to receive Circle funding for a second time.
Flezpay
Flezpay (@flezpay) is focused on African retail payments. It uses AI-driven smart QR codes to adjust item pricing in real time and connect fiat and USDC at the checkout counter. The company says it has integrated with 1,613 retail stores and generates more than $31,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
Other official ecosystem partners
Arc’s ecosystem page also lists more than 100 verified institutions and project partners spanning stablecoin issuance, infrastructure, trading, payments and financial services.
The list includes BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Mastercard and Coinbase. It also includes crypto-native institutions and infrastructure projects such as Kraken, Bybit, Aave, Chainlink, LayerZero, Fireblocks, BitGo, Centrifuge, Morpho, Curve and MetaMask.
Launchpads and DEX projects
TowerExchange
TowerExchange is described as a native Arc stablecoin DEX aggregator and is one of the better-known names in this category by both awareness and sustained discussion. It had previously appeared in Arc’s Builder Spotlight showcase. In May 2026, Arc’s official account posted a dedicated introduction to the project, explaining its features in detail and inviting users to a live demo. Users can connect a testnet wallet on the project website to try swaps and liquidity functions.
Radar DEX
Radar DEX, formerly ArcDEXScan, positions itself as a token tracking and issuance platform for Arc mainnet. It rebranded in July 2026 and launched a new site at radardex.io, where the team says support for Arc mainnet is already live. The platform tracks token prices, market capitalization, trading volume and liquidity. It also includes a Uniswap v3-based token launcher with permanently locked liquidity, and aggregates data from Uniswap v2, v3 and v4, as well as DyorSwap, Noxa and LiFi. Users can connect a wallet directly on the site or join its Telegram group for bot alerts.
AstraPump
AstraPump is a launchpad and DEX focused on one-click token creation and trading. It ranks near the top of the Trending board on ArcLens. Foresight said its follower base and social engagement stand out relative to comparable projects, with much of its appeal concentrated among meme traders and testnet participants.
Lunex
Lunex uses a Curve-style StableSwap AMM and focuses on low-slippage swaps for stablecoin pairs including USDC and EURC. ArcLens marks the project as Established, and Foresight described it as one of the few testnet projects with visible capital already sitting in the protocol. Current TVL is about $1.29 million, down from a peak of $1.38 million, while cumulative trading volume is about $2.59 million. Users can connect wallets on the website to test swap functions.
AI and infrastructure
hinkal_protocol
hinkal_protocol is a privacy and confidential settlement protocol that announced its testnet launch in March 2026. Arc’s official account has reposted or mentioned its testnet activity several times and referred to it as a “Day One Architect.” During the testnet phase, users can try its private transfer feature.
NFT projects
Orixa
Orixa (ORIXIANS) is an Arc-native NFT marketplace that plans to release its ORIXIANS NFT collection after mainnet goes live. The team has not said whether it will issue a token. Foresight said the project is near the front of the field in both social following and discussion volume. To participate, users need to hold a testnet pass, complete verification in the project’s Discord and then register for the whitelist.
Arc_Punks and ArcPunksNFT
There are currently two separate Punks-themed projects on Arc. Arc_Punks describes itself as the earliest Punks collection on Arc EVM, while ArcPunksNFT presents itself as a genesis collection. The teams and issuance plans are different, but the two are often discussed side by side in the community. Based on information disclosed so far, both projects plan to open public minting once mainnet is live, without requiring prior whitelist access.
unemployeeonarc
unemployeeonarc is a 10,000-piece NFT collection built around an “unemployed” theme. Its account leans into exaggerated humor and frequently uses “layoff” and “jobless application” jokes in updates. Foresight described it as one of the most distinctive projects in tone within the category. Its whitelist rules have not yet been announced, and users are advised to watch the official account and website for mint timing.
ArcCitizens
ArcCitizens is positioned as a community-governed, fully on-chain identity NFT project. One of its whitelist announcements triggered dense reposting and discussion in a short period, which Foresight cited as one of the clearest real cases of NFT-category distribution on Arc so far. The report also said there is verifiable evidence of actual user participation, including publicly posted whitelist rules and users following the steps. One earlier round offered 100 spots, while future rounds will depend on updates from the project’s official account.
The participation method described in the report was to quote the official whitelist announcement with the words “Arc is coming,” switch the profile picture to one of the project’s official PFPs and leave a wallet address in the comments.
Meme project
CatBatHatFatRat
CatBatHatFatRat has 10,000 followers and centers its identity around the phrase “Cat Bat Hat Fat Rat.” The report said the concept may have been inspired by a video previously shared by the official USDC account. Its website includes a PFP generator, a community message wall and interactive waitlist and leaderboard features.
Warning over fake Arc mainnet bridges
Foresight said the information above was compiled from the ArcLens ecosystem page, Circle and Arc official channels, and public discussion on X. Project rules may change, and users should rely on the latest official announcements and assess risk on their own before participating.
The article also includes a security warning. Recently, some third-party sites claiming to be “ARC Bridge,” including onbridge.xyz, have told users that “Arc Mainnet live” and tried to persuade them to connect wallets and bridge at least 1,000 USDC into “Arc mainnet.” Foresight said Arc’s official block explorer is still explicitly marked as Testnet, and there is no official mainnet explorer or mainnet announcement.
Arc ecosystem contributor Panchu recently posted on X that the underlying Arc mainnet chain is in fact already producing blocks. He said the chain ID is 5042, the block height has passed 10.4 million, and a USDC contract has been deployed. But he also said this is internal pre-release testing infrastructure operated by Circle and is not open to the public.
Panchu added that USDC cross-chain transfers depend on CCTP’s burn-and-mint flow. If a third-party website claims it can bridge assets to Arc mainnet, what it can actually do is burn the tokens on the source chain. Because Arc mainnet is not publicly open, the mint proof cannot be generated, which means the assets disappear and cannot be recovered. He also said some people have already been buying so-called “mainnet USDC” at premiums of 30x to 100x.
When Arc mainnet genuinely launches, the announcement will come publicly through @arc and Circle’s official channels, not through direct messages or backchannel tips. For now, the only meaningful way to interact with the ecosystem is through the testnet, and users should not move assets through any third-party “mainnet bridge.”