US-based stablecoin fintech Circle Internet Group has acquired the Malachite consensus engine of Informal Systems to help build out its new Layer-1 blockchain network Arc, which is expected to launch in testnet later this year.
Malachite is a high-performance Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus engine built around the Tendermint consensus algorithm. The solution, developed by Informal in collaboration with Starkware, ensures that network participants maintain the same record of transactions and data, even if some players are disrupted or malfunction.
Informal states that the acquisition of Malachite will help Circle deliver “greater performance, reliability, and security to stablecoin-based payments”, with CEO Ethan Buchman adding that the deal allows for “a high-impact use case” and “a robust financial foundation for future development”.
The Malachite repository will be transitioned to Circle while remaining open source under the Apache 2.0 licence, while “several Informal team members will join Circle to drive Arc’s development” as part of the acquisition.
Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, officially unveiled Arc on 12 August. The blockchain is specifically designed to accommodate stablecoin payments, and features built-in systems for cross-border payments with near-instant settlement, tokenised securities, treasuries, and commodities, and perpetual futures markets for stablecoin pairs.
Arc “will enter private testnet in the coming weeks”, Circle stated at launch, with a go-live on public testnet “expected this fall and mainnet beta in 2026”.
Circle’s acquisition of Malachite comes as Informal continues to spin out various incubated projects, which currently include the open clearing protocol Cycles, liquidity auction platform Hydro, and software language system Quint. The company states that the
Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/
