Goldman Sachs and BlackRock have agreed to test Arc, a new Layer-1 blockchain built by Circle that runs on USDC. The move matters because it lets giant asset managers settle trades using dollar-backed tokens, which could change how they handle cash, move money across borders and turn real-world assets into digital tokens while still obeying the rules.
Apollo and the exchange ICE are also participating, and their nodes will run real custody, reconciliation and identity checks that regulators demand, underscoring that this is not a showcase effort.
Arc is a finance-only blockchain that copies Ethereum’s software language and forces every fee to be paid in USDC. Circle says the chain will confirm deals in under one second through a custom consensus named Malachite, lets users switch privacy on or off, and includes its own foreign exchange tool so stablecoins can trade against each other. Circle has pencilled in a public testnet for late 2025 and a live beta for 2026.
Analysts expect the overall stablecoin market to swell and think USDC will claim the biggest share. A stablecoin is a digital coin that tracks one fiat dollar so its price stays flat.
What the trial means in practice
The pilot is designed to test real settlement with BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, liquidity and controls with USDC as the unit of account, using validators that keep full records while giving users optional privacy settings.
Day-to-day use for banks as they will reconcile books, hold assets and finalise trades using USDC as the counting unit. In terms of liquidity because fees are already in dollars on chain, managers no longer need to sell crypto or wire fiat to top up gas, making net-asset-value updates and token-fund balances simpler.
The next checkpoint is the public testnet slated for late 2025, when engineers will measure speed, watch how custody flows and test the undo button in a closed setting. The results will decide whether banks move on to real pilots for treasury cash, tokenized loans, stocks or commodities and how compliance manuals must change.
