a16z crypto · Oct 16, 2026 · 49m · 40m saved
With Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle · Chris Dixon, Founder and Managing Partner of a16z crypto
Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol mints and redeems about $150 billion a quarter, which Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, told the a16z crypto show makes it the most widely used way to move value between blockchains.
Circle spent a decade building on other companies' networks, first Bitcoin, then Ethereum, then Solana and others. A few weeks before the taping it switched on its own: Arc, a layer-1 blockchain built to the standards banks and regulators expect.
"You could build a protocol for dollars on the internet, like an HTTP for money."
Jeremy started Circle on that idea in 2013, and the company went on to issue the USDC stablecoin. He was joined by Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z crypto, which backed Arc.
The full episode is covered here so you can skip it. 49 minutes of audio, 9 minutes of reading.
Here are the 8 arguments that matter.
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Key Takeaways
Circle built Arc because banks and regulators expect standards that public blockchains don't meet
Circle's transfer protocol mints and redeems about $150 billion a quarter
Arc opens it to any asset issuer, not just USDC
The stablecoin market is winner-take-most, not winner-take-all
No blockchain has won developers yet, just as mobile took 15 to 20 years of failed platforms before the iPhone
Chris argues blockchains can offset AI's tendency to concentrate power in the firms with the most capital
Arc is open to anyone, but its validators are known and vetted
Both guests expect machine-driven financial activity to grow by orders of magnitude
1. Why Circle Built Arc
Jeremy traced Circle from a 2013 bet on "programmable money" running over Bitcoin to USDC on Ethereum, once Ethereum could issue assets reliably.
"By 2016 it was clear to us it was good enough, and so we abandoned the layer of moving dollars over Bitcoin and instead said, let's actually build a protocol for dollars that runs on Ethereum. That led us to the development and launch of USDC." — Jeremy Allaire
By 2020 and 2021 Circle had concluded Ethereum was too slow and expensive for what was coming. It worked with Solana and other networks, then decided about two and a half years ago to build its own chain. Institutions that want to put "actual money, actual securities" on a blockchain, Jeremy said, need infrastructure built to financial-system rules.
Circle built Arc because the institutions it wants to serve are held to standards set by central banks and market regulators
"If the world's financial institutions are going to connect to blockchains, we expect certain things of those blockchains... there are standards for infrastructure in the financial system, and those standards are enforced by central banks, by the regulators that oversee our capital markets." — Jeremy Allaire
Arc launched with 10 or 11 infrastructure partners and room for about 40 validators, the companies that confirm transactions on the network.
