Phantom Joins Circle's Arc Blockchain on Mainnet Launch Day

Phantom CASH$0.9990.0% confirmed Day 1 support for Circle's Arc blockchain as the network opened its mainnet on September 16, 2026. "Phantom will be live on @arc from day one," the wallet's official account posted at 00:35 UTC. The announcement makes Phantom the first major crypto wallet to support Arc at launch.

Phantom Brings Solana Users to Circle's Arc at Mainnet Open

Phantom is Solana's leading crypto wallet. Its same-day Arc integration means existing users can access the new network through familiar wallet infrastructure without waiting for a separate client or learning a new interface. For Circle USDC$1.0000.0%, Phantom's participation at launch adds a direct consumer entry point to a chain built primarily for institutional settlement and stablecoin finance.

Arc, Circle's purpose-built Layer-1 blockchain, opened to the public after months of private testing with over 100 ecosystem and institutional builders. The chain runs on Reth, an EVM-compatible execution engine, using Malachite, a Tendermint-derived BFT consensus, to achieve deterministic sub-500-millisecond finality. Transaction fees are denominated in USDC (USDC) rather than a volatile native token, removing the need for users to hold a separate gas asset.

Arc's 11 Founding Validators: BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard, DTCC, and Seven More

Circle announced an 11-institution founding validator cohort: BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy Digital, Global Payments, ICE (Intercontinental Exchange, parent of NYSE), Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, and Visa. The group spans global payments networks, post-trade clearing infrastructure, and asset management.

Two validators have announced specific deployment commitments. BlackRock is bringing its $2.87 billion BUIDL fund natively onto Arc, according to crypto.news. DTCC plans to integrate a tokenization service for DTC-custodied assets starting in the second half of 2027, according to crypto.news.

Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, said in Circle's press release that Arc's design addresses real institutional requirements: "Purpose-built rails like Arc can support faster settlement, improved collateral mobility, and broader institutional adoption."

Mastercard CPO Jorn Lambert described the participation in terms of interoperability in Circle's press release: "Our participation as a founding validator on Arc reflects that commitment — supporting trusted, interoperable infrastructure."

What Arc's USDC-Native Design Means for Phantom Users

Arc's core use cases are institutional: FX settlement, tokenized real-world assets, stablecoin payments, and what Circle describes as agentic economic activity. Phantom's Day 1 support gives its user base a path into that infrastructure through the wallet they already use on Solana.

The integration extends Phantom's multi-chain coverage to a Circle-operated network where USDC functions as both the fee token and the primary medium of exchange. Phantom already supports Ethereum and several other networks; Arc marks its entry into a chain built specifically around dollar-denominated settlement.

USDC had $73.3 billion in circulation at the time of Arc's launch, according to crypto.news. On Solana, USDC has over 9 million holders as of September 16, 2026, giving Phantom's users a built-in familiarity with the stablecoin that will serve as Arc's gas currency. Six decentralized applications launched on the network on day one, including FX venue Hibachi, DEX aggregator Tower, and DeFi liquidity layer UnitFlow, according to The Cryptonomist.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire characterized Arc's opportunity in terms that extend beyond the stablecoin business. In remarks ahead of the launch, he described Arc as "a bigger opportunity than USDC," positioning the chain as a move from stablecoin issuance toward capturing transaction fee revenue at the settlement layer, according to crypto.news.