Arc Go-Live: Bitwise and Wirex Put Circle’s Stablecoin System to the Test
Circle’s Arc is moving beyond its mainnet debut as new products begin testing whether the network can support a connected financial ecosystem built around USDC.
Summary:
- Wirex One launched on Arc after a 20,000-user closed beta.
- Bitwise’s PAPY-USDC targets 5%-6% variable yield on Arc.
- Wirex reports $2 billion in annualized card spending.
Real economic activity will be Arc’s next adoption test.
Circle launched Arc mainnet with more than 100 financial institutions, fintechs and crypto companies around its new Layer 1, but two products going live alongside it offer a more practical test of what the network is supposed to become.
Wirex One is bringing stablecoin-funded payments and accounts onto Arc, while Bitwise is using USDC deposits to finance loans backed by tokenized real-world assets through Morpho. One connects stablecoins with everyday spending; the other puts stablecoin liquidity into credit markets.
Wirex Gives Arc a Route Into Everyday Payments
Wirex One launched publicly on Arc after a closed beta that attracted more than 20,000 users since June. The service combines stablecoin-funded cards, multi-currency accounts, transfers and yield products, with access to conventional payment rails including SEPA, ACH and Faster Payments.
The integration goes deeper than putting Arc inside another crypto application. Wirex says Arc will serve as a settlement layer for partners using its infrastructure to issue cards and accounts through APIs.
That potentially gives Arc exposure to transactions in which the customer may never directly interact with a blockchain.
Wirex says its wider infrastructure recently reached $2 billion in annualized card spending volume and has processed more than $20 billion across 130 countries since 2014. Those figures are not Arc volumes, but they give Circle an existing payments network through which mainnet usage can develop.
Bitwise Puts USDC Into Real-World Credit
Bitwise is taking Arc in another direction with PAPY-USDC, a vault built through Morpho that accepts USDC and lends it to borrowers posting approved tokenized real-world assets as collateral.
The strategy currently targets a 5%-6% variable APY. Rather than relying exclusively on crypto-native collateral and borrowing demand, PAPY initially allocates capital across three different markets:
- Huma Finance PST: short-duration financing for cross-border payments to licensed financial institutions, with loans lasting between one and seven days.
- USDai: credit backed by GPUs used for AI infrastructure and structured through a bankruptcy-remote vehicle.
- cirBTC: a market used for excess liquidity that has not been allocated to the RWA-backed opportunities.
Bitwise already has an early comparison point. Its first PAPY vault, launched on Ethereum using AUSD, attracted more than $20 million by September 15, roughly two weeks after launch. The Arc version switches the deposit asset to USDC while retaining Morpho as the lending infrastructure.
Arc Is Building More Jobs Around the Same Dollar
Put the two products together and USDC starts performing several financial functions without requiring a separate asset for each part of the process.
That last point is built into Arc’s design. USDC is used to pay network fees, so businesses do not need to acquire and manage a separate volatile token simply to transact. Circle is also positioning Arc around payments, foreign exchange, tokenized assets and capital markets, with deterministic sub-second finality.
For Circle, this expands the economic role of USDC. The stablecoin can be the asset being held, the money being spent, the settlement instrument and the capital supplied to lending markets.
PAPY Also Brings Traditional Credit Risks Onchain
The 5%-6% APY is a target, not a guaranteed return. Bitwise says the rate is variable and can fall to zero, while withdrawals depend partly on liquidity being available in the underlying markets.
Depositors also take on several layers of risk. PAPY introduces exposure to borrowers and tokenized collateral alongside smart-contract, oracle, liquidity, protocol and regulatory risks. The product is not FDIC or SIPC insured.
READ MORE: RWA Perpetuals Hit $770M as Leverage Outruns Spot Adoption
Moving real-world assets onto a blockchain therefore does not remove conventional credit risk. It combines it with blockchain infrastructure risk.
For investors, the collateral composition may consequently matter as much as the headline yield. Short-duration payment financing and GPU-backed credit depend on different borrowers, cash flows, valuation processes and enforcement mechanisms than overcollateralized crypto lending.
Arc Now Needs Volume, Not More Partner Logos
Circle already has an unusually large institutional roster around Arc. Its founding validator cohort includes BlackRock, DTCC, Visa, Mastercard, Standard Chartered and Intercontinental Exchange, while Aave, Morpho and Uniswap are among the protocols building on the network.
The more useful evidence from here will come from activity.
For Wirex, that means payment and card-settlement volume actually reaching Arc. For PAPY, it means USDC deposits, borrowing against RWA collateral and liquidity during periods of market stress. Across the network, settlement volume between payments, FX, tokenized assets and credit will show whether these products are beginning to interact rather than simply coexist.
Circle reported $14.8 trillion in USDC onchain transaction volume during Q2, up 151% year over year. Arc now has to demonstrate that it can capture economically useful portions of that activity rather than simply produce another large blockchain transaction count.
Wirex payment volume, PAPY deposits, RWA-backed borrowing and USDC settlement volume on Arc will provide the clearer evidence. Those numbers will show whether Circle is building another network for USDC or a financial system around it.
The information presented in this article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or trading advice. Coinspress.com does not promote or advocate for any particular investment strategy, asset, or cryptocurrency project. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and unpredictable – always perform your own research and seek guidance from a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Kosta Gushterov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
