Circle Wants to Own Crypto’s Financial Stack, but Tether Still Owns the Dollar
Circle is building a four-layer financial stack around its new Arc blockchain, aiming to become the dominant infrastructure for crypto finance. The stack includes assets like USDC and USYC, developer tools like CCTP, and apps like Mint and StableFX. Over 100 firms joined the Arc testnet, with partners including Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, and Visa. Circle raised $222 million in an ARC token presale at a $3 billion valuation from BlackRock, a16z, and ARK Invest. However, Tether's USDT remains the dominant stablecoin with a $184 billion market cap, four times USDC's daily trading volume. USDC's market cap has slipped to $73 billion. Circle's stock has fallen 76% from its post-IPO peak. The GENIUS Act may steer regulated money to USDC, but offshore trading keeps Tether dominant. Arc's mainnet launch will test whether new rails can pull liquidity from Tether's dollar.
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