Circle
2026-07-22 06:05:41Circle’s Arc ecosystem takes shape ahead of mainnet, with payments teams, NFT projects and launchpads drawing attention
Circle’s native stablecoin chain Arc remains on public testnet, with a beta mainnet launch window set for summer 2026. In the meantime, a growing list of ecosystem projects has started to attract attention across X, especially in lower-friction categories such as NFTs, launchpads and meme-themed communities. Third-party directory ArcLens has listed 308 projects claiming to build on Arc.
Among the most concrete teams so far are eight payment infrastructure startups named in Circle’s first 2026 Developer Grant cohort, focused on Africa and the Global South. Those include Blockradar, Hurupay, Myaza, Arrel Technology, Payrit, ViFi Labs, SFx Money and Flezpay, several of which disclosed transaction volumes, user counts or merchant metrics through Arc’s official blog. Arc’s ecosystem page also lists more than 100 verified institutional and crypto-native partners, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Coinbase, Kraken, Aave, Chainlink and MetaMask.
The article also highlights community projects across DEX, launchpad, AI, NFT and meme categories, while warning users against third-party sites claiming Arc mainnet is already live. According to Arc contributor Panchu, the underlying mainnet chain is producing blocks internally, but it is not open to the public. He said any site offering a bridge to Arc mainnet could destroy assets on the source chain without completing minting on Arc, leaving funds unrecoverable.