Does Circle's Latest Move Threaten XRP?

Key Points

• Circle just announced it will launch a blockchain of its own for stablecoins.

• XRP's focus is not on stablecoins.

• But Circle is still aiming to develop its chain into something that could threaten XRP.

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The average trip on an airplane isn't really in competition with the average trip on a train or a subway. Most of the time, they serve different kinds of travelers. But sometimes, the routes overlap enough to matter, and in rare cases, the infrastructural advantages of a new train line can put a dent in plane ticket bookings.

This is basically the right mental model for reading Circle Internet Group's (NYSE: CRCL) announcement of Arc, a new Layer-1 (L1) blockchain designed around stablecoin finance. For holders of XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), the potential overlaps between Arc and the XRP Ledger (XRPL) are with payments, foreign exchange (FX) and international money transfers, and transaction settlement for trades.

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So, does that mean launching Arc is a direct threat to XRP?

Image source: Getty Images.

Circle's new chain plans are timely

First, let's clarify exactly what Circle is going for with its launch of Arc. For the uninitiated, Circle is the issuer of USDC (CRYPTO: USDC), the second-largest stablecoin, which has a market value of about $68 billion (as of Aug. 15). Arc is, thus, Circle's bid to make stablecoins move with enterprise-grade reliability on public rails.

The design choices are quite transparently intended to generate revenue via incentivizing the use of USDC. USDC is the native gas that's used for predictable, dollar-denominated user fees, and an institutional foreign exchange engine that supports 24/7 on-chain price discovery and settlement.

Transactions should theoretically settle in less than a second, and there are opt-in privacy features for balances and transactions. Furthermore, the chain intends to be Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible to keep developer switching costs low and grant it access to Ethereum's vast pool of smart contract developers -- just like the XRPL does with its new EVM-compatible sidechain.

Circle says Arc will enter a private testnet in the coming weeks, with a public testnet slated for this fall, and a mainnet beta test in 2026. Meanwhile, USDC's scale is quietly resetting the competitive baseline for the stablecoin segment. Circle reported USDC in circulation of $61.3 billion at the end of the second quarter and $65.2 billion by Aug. 10, reflecting close to 90% growth year over year. Stablecoins as a category now sit near the $260 billion to $280 billion mark. That mass will be fuel for Arc's launch.

Is XRP in danger?

But where might XRP fit into this picture? In short, XRPL's original mission was cheap, fast, cross-border money transfers, and its most active enterprise deployments fall under those verticals. And Arc's payments and FX features march straight into those same areas. Thus, it is fairly likely it will end up stepping on XRP's toes in cross-border payments and institutional flows, stealing at least a small share of the capital flows. Still, that doesn't spell doom for XRP whatsoever, even if it is a genuine threat.

Start by looking at what XRP already does well. The XRPL bakes compliance-oriented controls into the protocol for issued assets. Those tools help regulated issuers enforce know-your-customer (KYC) rules without bespoke contracts, and they reduce operational friction for institutions. Once an asset issuer is onboarded, it's burdensome for them to switch to another system, so they probably won't, especially if the increased benefits are only marginal. Remember, XRP's transactions are extremely fast and very cheap, so Arc won't be able to siphon much capital on the basis of those features, even if it can match them.

Furthermore, Circle's go-to-market strategy is different and, in some segments, more direct. For fintechs or other companies that already use USDC, Arc promises a vertically integrated path to reduce implementation risk and vendor sprawl. But those users likely weren't in XRP's reach anyway, as they were already participants in Circle's soon-to-be-budding ecosystem.

So, where does all of this leave investors? In practice, Arc and XRPL will likely segment the market rather than one obliterating the other. XRP should remain the more institutionally configurable rail for issuer-controlled assets and payment corridors where XRPL features and existing integrations shine. Therefore, the right stance is to be secure but not complacent if you hold XRP.

Keep an eye on Arc's public testnet traction with payments partners. If Arc converts Circle's USDC distribution into on-chain settlement at scale, some of the capital share will shift. At the same time, if XRP keeps landing new issuer programs, its investment thesis stays intact.

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Alex Carchidi has positions in Circle Internet Group and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.