Circle's Arc blockchain, which launched its mainnet on September 16, 2026, is already showing signs of a familiar post-launch pattern: a surge of speculative activity followed by a sharp drop
Circle's Arc blockchain, which launched its mainnet on September 16, 2026, is already showing signs of a familiar post-launch pattern: a surge of speculative activity followed by a sharp drop in revenue. Data from DefiLlama shows that the combined protocol revenue across Arc Chain's meme launchpad ecosystem came in at less than $1,300 over a single 24-hour window, five days after the network went live.
Of the launchpads tracked, Solon recorded the highest revenue at $503, followed by ARK Launch at $183 and Tolly at $158. Wonk Fun brought in $97.60 and AKA added $65, while several others, including UBI.fun, Sashimi.fun, and CircleWarp, each generated less than $1. A number of launchpads reported zero revenue for the period.
The figures paint a stark picture for a network that drew considerable attention at launch. On its opening day, Arc recorded $410.8 million in total DEX volume and processed more than 7.7 million transactions within 24 hours. Of that volume, roughly 82%, or $336.3 million, came directly from memecoin launchpads. That wave of day-one activity has not translated into durable launchpad revenues.
Part of the problem appears to be structural. Before Arc launched, more than 50 launchpads had already been identified on the network, and the chain had not had time to develop its own meme culture before those spots were taken. With no consensus forming around a single dominant launchpad, liquidity has remained fragmented across competing platforms.
Meanwhile, broader Arc Chain app fees tell a different story. Over a 25-hour window, total app fees on the network reached approximately $281,000, with Uniswap alone accounting for $277,300 of that figure. That concentration underscores how activity on Arc is consolidating around established DeFi infrastructure rather than the newer, chain-native launchpad projects.
Arc is an open Layer 1 blockchain built by Circle, the issuer of USDC. It uses USDC as gas, settles with sub-second finality, and targets payments, foreign exchange, and tokenized assets. Whether the network's core financial infrastructure can attract sustained DeFi usage beyond speculative token launches remains the key question as the initial launch excitement fades.
Sources:Arc Chain Overview, DefiLlamaArc Mainnet Launch: Ecosystem Overview, CryptoRankArc Meme Launchpad Revenue Data, KuCoin News
