TL;DR - Circle's Arc "Arc aims to be a top platform for tokenized, yield-bearing assets." Centralization & TPS: - Permissioned Validators: Regulated institutions (sic!) running a Tendermint-based PoA consensus (Malachite). - ~ 3,000 TPS with a finality under 350 ms using 20 validators - With four validators: 10,000 TPS, and finality is under 100 ms In comparison, Solana pushes 4k-5k tps with 400-500 ms finality but SOL is more decentralized. Privacy: - Opt in Privacy: Confidential transfers (hidden amounts, visible addresses) with selective disclosure via "view key." MEV: - MEV Mitigation Roadmap: Encrypted mempools, batch processing, multi-proposer setup; preserves “constructive” MEV Yield bearing stablecoin: - USDC as default gas token but can pay fees using local stablecoins with "future embedded paymaster abstraction" - It will launch supporting Circle’s USYC, an interest-bearing token backed by short-term U.S. Treasury securities. (This is cool). Bridging & trading - Fast bridging/liquidity distribution via Circle’s CCTP and Gateway - chain-abstracted balances (not bad) - Arc will include a built-in currency trading system where approved institutions can settle FX trades atomically onchain, with prices sourced offchain through a request-for-quote process. Payments: - Arc will offer built-in tools for businesses to automate and secure payments, including invoices embedded in transactions, onchain refund/dispute handling, and AI agents to manage corporate treasuries.