Welcome to Arc - Introduction from Tim Baker
Hey everyone! I'm incredibly happy you're here—and honestly, I'm thrilled to be here too.
For those who don't know me, I'm Tim Baker. For most of the 13 some years that I've spent building in web3, I've gone by the screen name "Silence." But here in Arc, you're welcome to just call me Tim.
About Me
Let me tell you a little about myself. You might wonder how I'm qualified to help you in your quest. While I can't promise to work any miracles, I've learned a thing or two over the my lengthy career, and I really want to share that knowledge with tomorrows leaders.
My experience includes:
- Building a global distributed supercomputer at distributive.network
- Helping develop off-chain execution environments for immutable code.
- Creating yield generation systems and on chain debt/lending systems.
- Working with core engineers on consensus engines.
- Serving as a technological polyglot across a wide variety of industries.
Prior to joining Circle, my most common roles were as a solutions engineer and second CTO. What I really hope is that you can let me learn from YOU, I want to know about what technology you need to build your dream, and if you're already working with our tech stack, I want to know what we can do to make it better. So to balance out these selfish goals, I'll give you one more that can be to your benefit. I've spent many years acquiring alot of experiences, and Circle has brought me here to share those things with you.
What is Arc?
Here's the short version: Arc is a new, open, EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain built by Circle. It's designed to be the Economic OS for the internet. That might sound lofty, but it's real, and if you're reading this, there's a good chance you will be one of the people building the tools that are used in that OS.
What makes it so special you ask? Arc uses stablecoins as its native gas token (starting with USDC). No more volatile gas tokens, Stable, predictable, dollar-denominated transaction fees. It's An L1 designed from the ground up for real world use cases: lending, capital markets, FX, and yes—payments of all sorts. Let Arc be your liquidity hub and give your users the web2 experience they crave with our Instant Finality using the new Malachite consensus. What will you do when you can finalize a block in less than half a second or instantly access liquidity across all the blockchains our products support?
Arc is now live in public testnet, and I'm excited to build with it. With first-class support for Circle's developer stack—CCTP (Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol), Gateway, and Bridge Kit; as well as commitment from more than 80 of the leading names in blockchain to launch with day one support for Arc, the possibilities are really endless.
Think about the implications: What does a world look like with universal access to stable currencies? What can you build when transferring money is as simple as sending a text message? We've all heard these things promised before, but at least from my perspective, Arc is different. Arc delivers.
So Let's Connect
This is the most important part: I want to know who YOU are.
Please go over to The Architects Lounge (forum) and make a post, or reply to mine. Tell me: Do you already have a project or startup in web3, or are you just getting started?
Tell us about your project (or your idea, unless it's too good to share yet)
How can Arc and its tools help you succeed?
If you're already building on Arc, what are your pain points? How can we do better?
Since Arc is a new chain, the opportunity is massive. Whether you're planning to build something brand new, give something old a new spin, integrate Arc's tools into an existing company or bank, or you're just starting with no idea what to build yet—that's all great. I'm here to help and have direct access to the rest of the Circle teams who also want to help.
What the Ecosystem Needs
To get you thinking, here are a few things the ecosystem will need from day one:
- Lending rails and credit lines
- Tokenized markets (Treasuries/RWA, instant DvP)
- Policy wallets with passkeys and AA paymasters (opt-in configurable privacy)
- KYC and portable identity tools
- Infrastructure, data, and analytics tools
- Privacy and censorship-resistant payments
- Payments and gas-sponsored checkout flows
If you want guidance on any of these, just ask. The foundation is set; it's up to us to build.
How to Reach Our Team
I'm always ready to chat, no exaggeration, but the best places to find me and the core team:
First Right Here! on The Arc Community Hub: Feel free to reach out here on the Community Hub. If I can't help you directly, I'll point you in the right direction and try to find someone who can. There are many founders here, so if you're looking to collaborate with other companies in our ecosystem, you can reach out and ask, or contact them directly right here through the Arc Hub!
Want help getting your product featured or join me on a demo day stream? Open a ticket in #engagement-support Need tech support or guidance? Use #technical-support
Thanks for your time to learn about me, and what we can offer you. Now please take a few minutes and let me get to know you! Comment below or better yet go over to the Architects lounge and participate!
Now let's get to work.
Tim Baker
