Circle raises $222M in private sale for its Layer 1 Arc token

Circle (CRCL) has raised $222 million in a private sale for the native token of its Layer 1 chain, Arc, valuing the project at a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $3 billion, CNBC reported. The round was led by a16z with a $75 million investment. Other participants included over 10 institutions, such as BlackRock, Apollo Fund, New York Stock Exchange parent company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), SBI Group, General Catalyst, and Ark Invest. Arc aims to provide infrastructure to support institutional finance functions and an AI agent-based economy. With this move, Circle plans to expand from being a stablecoin issuer to a company with its own network and token.