Is Circle Distancing Itself from Crypto in the Race to Replace SWIFT?
Circle, issuer of USDC and the second-largest stablecoin player, is steering into new territory with Arc, its institution-focused blockchain. In an interview with the Financial Times, Circle President Heath Tarbert raised the possibility of reversible transactions — a striking departure from crypto’s emphasis on immutability. This raises the question: is Circle distancing itself from crypto in its bid to build an alternative to SWIFT?
Why Circle is Exploring Reversibility
Tarbert framed the idea around balancing settlement finality with the need for error correction and fraud protection. He suggested that in some circumstances, “provided all the parties agree, there could be some degree of reversibility for fraud.”
Arc would not roll back transactions on-chain, but rather add a layer for counter-payments — closer to a credit card refund than a crypto transfer. For banks and corporates, this is not radical; it mirrors safeguards already embedded in the financial system.
The Flaw in the Logic
The tension comes from framing reversibility as a tool against fraud. Fraudsters do not agree to undo a theft. Without a central body to enforce decisions, reversibility cannot truly address fraud. At best, it provides a mechanism for correcting mistakes or settling disputes when both sides consent.
This is where Circle’s idea risks being misunderstood — or oversold.
Circle vs. Tether: Two Divergent Paths
The contrast with Tether is striking. Tether cemented its dominance by focusing on the crypto-native market — fueling high-volume trading, becoming the default currency for exchanges, and expanding into emerging markets where demand for dollar substitutes is strongest.
Circle, meanwhile, has already lost that battle. USDC adoption in trading has lagged far behind USDT, especially outside the United States. By pivoting to Arc, Circle is signaling that its future lies not in outcompeting Tether within crypto, but in carving a new role among banks and institutions.
Banks and the Comfort of Rails
Here Arc may find its advantage. In the traditional system, wires, SWIFT, and card networks all come with processes for recalls and chargebacks. These reduce operational risk and make insurers more comfortable in backing financial institutions.
By building Arc with reversibility and confidentiality, Circle is offering banks a blockchain rail that looks far less like crypto and far more like the infrastructure they already know. In that sense, Circle is not just selling to banks — it is helping them de-risk their own mistakes. And in a world where risk allocation is everything, that might prove persuasive.
The Strategic Trade-Off
This push, however, distances Circle from the crypto ethos. Features like reversibility and confidential transfers make Arc feel more like a closed financial network than a public blockchain. The danger is that Circle ends up occupying a middle ground: too centralized for crypto, too experimental for banks.
Tether chose to embrace the chaotic energy of crypto markets, and it won. Circle is choosing to court institutions instead — but the jury is still out on whether banks will embrace a blockchain owned and operated by a private company.
Rethinking What Revolution Means
Blockchain was once hailed as a revolution. But in our lifetime, how many revolutions have endured unchanged? History shows that revolutionaries rarely keep power for long; systems eventually bend toward more established structures.
Is Circle’s Arc a sign that blockchain’s radical edge is already giving way to institutional comfort? Or is it simply the natural evolution of technology seeking relevance beyond its origins?
And if banks end up running on Arc, while traders stick with Tether, will stablecoins split into two worlds — one for crypto, one for finance?
