From 2022 to 2024, most Layer 1s competed on one metric: speed.

Higher TPS, lower latency, cheaper transactions.

The industry proved that performance alone does not create adoption. A blockchain can process thousands of transactions per second and still struggle to attract meaningful users.

The next growth phase depends on applications that people actually use.

That is the direction Arc is taking.

Arc is built for Stablecoin Finance

Arc is designed around one idea:

Stablecoins are becoming the default way to move money on the internet.

As crypto regulation becomes clearer, especially in the US, developers have an opportunity to build financial applications for a much broader audience than crypto-native users.

That includes:

Everyday users
Businesses and institutions
AI agents

Supporting these users requires a different blockchain design.

1. Better user experience

Most people do not want to learn wallets, gas tokens, or transaction mechanics.

They want an experience that feels familiar.

Arc supports features such as:

Paying transaction fees with USDC
Around 1-second settlement
Payment memos attached to transfers
Gas sponsorship, where applications can pay transaction fees for users

The result is an onboarding experience that feels much closer to traditional fintech than traditional crypto.

2. Infrastructure for businesses

Businesses need more than fast transactions.

They also care about compliance, privacy, and operational efficiency.

Arc includes infrastructure for:

Private transactions when required
Batch payments
Multiple stablecoins with built-in conversion tools
Compliance features, including the ability to restrict sanctioned wallets when legally required

These capabilities make it easier to build financial products that businesses can actually deploy.

3. Infrastructure for the AI economy

AI agents are becoming economic participants.

They need wallets.

They need to receive payments.

They need to pay for APIs and services autonomously.

Arc is preparing for that future with native support for AI-driven financial interactions while also building toward post-quantum security.

What can developers build on Arc?

Arc expands the range of applications that make sense onchain.

Examples include:

Onchain neobanks with an experience similar to traditional banking while enabling global transfers in about one second
Peer-to-peer payment and shared expense applications similar to Venmo, Momo, or ZaloPay
Cross-border e-commerce powered by stablecoins, where users sign up with an email and start paying immediately
Enterprise payroll systems that distribute salaries to an entire company in a single transaction

These applications solve real financial problems instead of serving only existing crypto users.

Arc's long-term vision

Looking at these use cases, Arc is building infrastructure for four major trends.

Everyday financial applications

Blockchain becomes part of daily life through banking and payment applications.

Internet-native money movement

Stablecoins become a seamless way to move value across countries and online platforms.

Institutional adoption

Businesses gain the infrastructure needed to operate onchain while meeting compliance requirements.

The AI economy

AI agents gain native financial infrastructure for autonomous payments and economic activity.

Final thoughts

Arc is entering a different category from the blockchains that defined the previous cycle.

The focus is not another race for higher TPS.

The focus is financial infrastructure that developers can use to build products for millions of users.

That is why Arc describes its vision as an Internet Financial System.

The opportunity is much larger than crypto trading.

It is about making internet-native money usable for people, businesses, and AI.