[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] The USDC balance on Circle network Arc has surpassed $1 billion.

The Defiant, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Oct. 27 local time that Arc’s USDC balance is swelling rapidly, emerging as a key liquidity gateway within the network.

Arc is a layer-1 blockchain for which Circle launched a public mainnet in September. It is designed to support financial transactions such as payments and remittances. USDC is used on the network as an asset for custody and transfer and as a means of paying transaction fees. A key feature is that users can transact in USDC without a separate fee token.

The most striking point is the pace of growth. Based on DefiLlama’s daily data, stablecoin market capitalisation rose 32% in a week. This indicates not only an increase in deposits but also that USDC funds are rapidly concentrating into specific infrastructure.

Even so, it is difficult to immediately interpret the concentration of funds in the top four addresses as a monopoly by a small number of investors. Since the operators and purposes by address have not been confirmed, it is necessary to distinguish whether the addresses pool and manage assets for multiple users or are wallets of specific holders. To assess the impact of concentration, it is also necessary to confirm the roles of those addresses, not only their holding shares.

It is also necessary to separately examine whether the rise in USDC balances on the network leads to an actual expansion in use. A larger holding amount does not mean payments or remittances increased at the same pace. Active address counts and the number and value of transfers need to be checked together to judge whether inflows translate into sustained network use.

The key is not the $1 billion threshold itself but the nature and durability of those funds. The buildup of USDC on Arc can be seen as a signal that network usage has increased. At the same time, a structure in which the top four addresses hold about 73% of the total suggests that movements by certain participants could have a large impact on overall liquidity.

Accordingly, the market is watching two things together. One is whether Arc can continue to sustain USDC inflows, and the other is whether the current high concentration will ease. With stablecoin market capitalisation up 32% in a week, Arc’s move past $1 billion shows a market atmosphere in which funds are flowing in rapidly.