Written by: Sanqing, Foresight News

The native public chain of Circle's stablecoin, Arc, is currently still in the public testnet phase, with the official mainnet beta launch window set for the summer of 2026. During this period before the mainnet opens, several testnet projects have already accumulated a certain level of discussion on platform X, particularly focusing on categories such as NFTs, Launchpads, and Memes, which have relatively low participation thresholds. The third-party project directory ArcLens has recorded 308 projects claiming to be built on Arc.

Below is a list of payment infrastructure teams officially highlighted by Circle, institutions listed as partners on Arc's official ecosystem page with real business data, and currently active community projects. The data is updated as of July 21, 2026, and is for reference only.

1. Payment infrastructure teams funded by Circle

The following 8 teams are among the first batch of the Circle Developer Grant program's funding list for 2026, focusing on African and global southern markets.

Officially introduced on July 13, 2026, by the Arc official blog, these projects are some of the few in the ecosystem that provide real business data, but mainly offer infrastructure services targeted at enterprises, thus limiting individual user participation. The introductions below follow the order presented in the official blog.

Blockradar (@BlockradarHQ)

Infrastructure for wallets as a service, providing integrated APIs for non-custodial wallet creation, gas-free transactions, real-time anti-money laundering reviews, fund aggregation, and cross-chain liquidity for fintech companies in emerging markets. According to the Arc official blog, in its first 12 months online, it has processed over $600 million in payments for fintech clients in Africa and Latin America, covering 150,000 wallets and 700,000 transactions; the real-time data currently displayed on its official website has grown to approximately $950 million, 182,000 wallets, and 973,000 transactions, numbers that are continuously updated by the project but have not yet undergone third-party audits.

Hurupay (soon to be renamed Kolan, @kolan_xyz)

Provides dollar account services with real routing numbers for non-US users and enterprises, automatically converting funds received to USDC, allowing users to withdraw in local currencies, use cards for purchases, or hold stablecoins for interest. Currently serves over 50 countries with 50,000 active users, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Argentina, and Brazil, processing over $100 million in transactions over the past 15 months.

Myaza (@myazahq)

A pan-African payment network supporting multi-currency wallets and instant transfers in 21 African currencies, driven by USDC and EURC cross-border settlements, and offering virtual dollar cards, bill payments, and savings account functionalities. It has over 25,000 registered users, experiencing a month-on-month growth of 23%, with a cumulative transaction volume of about $15 million, and has established infrastructure partnerships with Fincra, Yellow Card, and Bridge.

Arrel Technology (DAPL, @ArrelTechnology)

With 8 years of institutional-level digital asset infrastructure experience, its new products USDC Omni-Checkout & Treasury Router are built on Circle CCTP, enabling African merchants to access USDC/EURC payments without development, similar to using Stripe. Targeting global southern markets, it has an annual payment volume of $180 million, with a year-on-year growth of 128%.

Payrit (@payritHQ)

A cross-border mobile wallet driven by USDC that allows users to operate in local currencies, with USDC conversion completed in the background, achieving near real-time settlements. It has processed over 36,000 transactions worth more than $1.9 million for Nigerian users in cross-border trades with the UK, Canada, and Africa, supporting multiple chains including EVM, Stellar, and Solana.

ViFi Labs (@ViFi_Labs)

A decentralized foreign exchange protocol targeting emerging market currencies, using an AMM architecture designed for correlated assets, providing near zero slippage exchanges for currency pairs such as Nigerian Naira, Brazilian Real, and Colombian Peso. It has been deployed on the Arc testnet and is advancing towards mainnet launch, with Arc serving as its primary liquidity and forex execution hub.

SFx Money (@usesfxmoneyapp)

A stablecoin digital bank initially serving the remittance needs of Turkish expatriates and African students, it has now developed into a full-featured digital bank, supporting free transfers between Turkey and more than 16 African countries, the US, the UK, and the EU. Its user base has grown from about 300 in December 2024 to over 8,800 in July 2026 and is one of the few funded projects to receive Circle funding again.

Flezpay (@flezpay)

Targeting the African retail scene, it uses AI-driven smart QR codes to dynamically adjust product prices in real-time, streamlining the payment process between fiat and USDC at checkout. It has integrated with 1,613 retail stores, with monthly recurring revenue exceeding $31,000.

2. Other official ecosystem partners

The Arc official ecosystem page currently includes over 100 verified institutional and project partners, covering categories such as stablecoin issuance, infrastructure, trading, payment, and financial services.

Notable institutions include: BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Mastercard, and crypto-native institutions and infrastructure projects like Kraken, Bybit, Aave, Chainlink, LayerZero, Fireblocks, BitGo, Centrifuge, Morpho, Curve, and MetaMask.

3. Launchpad / DEX category

TowerExchange

Arc's native stablecoin DEX aggregator, recognized for its leading awareness and discussion in this category, previously selected for the official Builder Spotlight showcase. In May 2026, it was specifically introduced in a post by Arc's official account, detailing its features and inviting live demonstrations. Participation method: connect to the testnet wallet directly on the official website to experience exchange and liquidity features.

Radar DEX (formerly ArcDEXScan)

A token market tracking and issuance platform on the Arc mainnet, rebranded and launched a new site radardex.io in July 2026, with the official statement that it now supports the Arc mainnet. Functionally, it can track token prices, market capitalizations, trading volumes, and liquidity, while also featuring a token launcher based on Uniswap v3 (with permanent liquidity locking), aggregating data from multiple trading channels including Uniswap v2/v3/v4, DyorSwap, Noxa, and LiFi. Participation method: access the website directly to connect your wallet or join their Telegram group for bot updates.

AstraPump

A launchpad and DEX focusing on one-click token issuance and trading, currently ranking high on the Trending list of the third-party ecosystem directory ArcLens. Its fan base and tweet engagement are relatively prominent among similar projects, primarily attracting meme and testnet player groups.

Lunex

A StableSwap AMM styled similarly to Curve, focusing on low slippage exchanges for stablecoin pairs like USDC/EURC. It is labeled as Established on ArcLens. Participation method: connect your wallet directly on the official website to experience the exchange feature.

4. AI / infrastructure category

hinkal_protocol

A privacy and confidential settlement protocol, announced to launch on the testnet in March 2026, with the Arc official account frequently forwarding or mentioning its testnet dynamics, referring to it as the “Day One Architect.” Participation method: try out its privacy transfer feature during the testnet phase.

5. NFT category

Orixa (ORIXIANS)

A native NFT trading market of Arc, which will release the NFT series ORIXIANS after its mainnet launch. Orixa has not explicitly stated whether it will issue a token. Among similar projects, its fan base and discussion heat are relatively leading. Participation method: you must hold a testnet pass and complete identity verification on the official Discord to enter the whitelist registration.

Arc_Punks and ArcPunksNFT

There are currently two separate Punks conceptual projects on Arc: Arc_Punks claims to be the earliest Punks series on Arc EVM, while ArcPunksNFT positions itself as a genesis collection, and the two teams and issuance plans are not the same, frequently discussed and compared within the community. According to currently disclosed information, both plan to open public minting directly after the mainnet launch without requiring prior whitelist membership. Participation method: wait for the mainnet launch, during which public minting will be available.

unemployeeonarc

A collection of 10,000 themed NFTs titled “Losers,” with a humorous and quirky account style, often using jokes about “layoffs” and “unemployment applications” for updates, making it one of the most distinctive projects in terms of tone among similar projects. Participation method: whitelist rules have not yet been announced; it is recommended to follow the official account and website for minting timing.

ArcCitizens

Positioned as a community-governed, fully on-chain identity NFT. One whitelist announcement quickly triggered extensive forwarding and discussion, marking it as a standout case in NFT category propagation effects, with verifiable real user participation evidence (whitelist rules published, users followed actual procedures). Participation method: quote the official whitelist announcement with the caption “Arc is coming,” change your avatar to one of the official PFPs, and leave your wallet address in the comments. Previously, 100 slots were opened; future rounds will need to monitor official account announcements.

6. Meme category

CatBatHatFatRat

With 10,000 followers, this is a Meme project centered around the five words “Cat Bat Hat Fat Rat,” potentially inspired by a video shared by the official USDC account. The official website offers interactive features such as a PFP generator, community message wall, and waitlist/ranking.

The above information is compiled from ArcLens ecosystem page, Circle/Arc official channels, and public discussions on platform X; specific rules are subject to the latest official announcements from the projects, and please assess risks before participating.

Safety reminder: Recently, a third-party website claiming to be "ARC Bridge" has appeared online (such as onbridge.xyz), declaring "Arc Mainnet live," enticing users to connect wallets and transfer at least 1,000 USDC to the “Arc mainnet.” Upon verification, the Arc official blockchain explorer still clearly marks it as Testnet with no official Mainnet explorer or announcements.

Arc ecosystem contributor Panchu recently also posted on X to clarify: the underlying chain of the Arc mainnet is indeed already generating blocks (chain ID 5042, block height over 10.4 million, USDC contract has been deployed), but this is only Circle's internal pre-release testing infrastructure, not yet open to the public.

Since USDC's cross-chain depends on the CCTP "burn-mint" two-step process, any third-party website claiming to bridge assets to the Arc mainnet can only complete the burn on the source chain, and the mint proof cannot be generated due to the mainnet not being officially open, leading to direct asset disappearance with no return. He also mentioned that some people have been acquiring the so-called "mainnet USDC" at 30 to 100 times the price.

When the Arc mainnet truly goes live, the official channels @arc and Circle will publicly announce it simultaneously, and it will not be shared in advance through private messages or anecdotal news. The only meaningful way to participate remains the testnet, and do not use any third-party "mainnet bridges" to transfer assets.

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