Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, Circle raised $222 million in an ARC token presale led by a16z crypto as Q1 revenue hit $694 million and USDC circulation climbed to $77 billion, Bitcoin surged 2.3% after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s peace proposal, and Michael Saylor signaled that Strategy would buy BTC again, days after suggesting it could sell some Bitcoin.

Circle raises $222 million in Arc token presale valued at $3 billion

Circle Internet Group agreed to sell 740 million ARC tokens for $222 million in a private placement led by a16z crypto, valuing the Arc blockchain network at $3 billion on a fully diluted basis.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed issuer of the USDC stablecoin disclosed the token presale Monday alongside its first-quarter 2026 results, which showed higher revenue and reserve income but lower net income.

The round was led by a16z crypto and backed by a consortium including BlackRock, Apollo Funds, ARK Invest, Bullish, General Catalyst, Haun Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, IDG Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, SBI Group and Standard Chartered Ventures.

Circle entered into the token purchase agreements on Friday, agreeing to sell the ARC tokens at $0.30 each in a private placement exempt from registration under the US Securities Act of 1933.

The sale marks a major step in Circle’s effort to expand beyond stablecoin issuance into blockchain infrastructure, as the company seeks to build Arc into a settlement layer for stablecoin finance, tokenized assets and programmable financial markets.

Circle first introduced Arc in August 2025 as an open layer-1 blockchain focused on stablecoin finance. It also published a whitepaper on Monday, describing ARC as a “native coordination asset” designed to support governance, security and network operations on the system.

Circle (CRCL) shares were up around 3% in premarket trading to $116.7, extending recent gains, according to Yahoo Finance. The stock is up around 12.2% over the past month and more than 40% year to date.

Circle (CRCL) stock price chart year-to-date. Source: Yahoo Finance

Bitcoin rallies 2.3% after Trump calls Iran peace proposal "totally unacceptable"

Bitcoin briefly dipped before surging over $82,000 on Sunday as US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s counteroffer to a peace deal, which could prolong tension in the Middle East. 

“I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” Trump said in a post to Truth Social on Sunday after reading Iran’s proposal to end the war. Iran has previously requested that the US pay for war reparations and unfreeze blocked Iranian financial assets.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell from $81,430 to $80,520 within 45 minutes of Trump’s post before whipsawing nearly 2.3% to $82,347 less than three hours later, according to CoinGecko data. Bitcoin’s rise also resulted in nearly $64 million worth of short positions being wiped out over the last four hours, according to Coinglass data.

Bitcoin’s change in price over the last 24 hours. Source: CoinGecko

The US-Iran war and dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz — which handles one-fifth of oil trade — has caused significant disruption in the financial markets over the past ten weeks, particularly in oil markets, which rose another 4.6% to $98.7 per barrel on Trump’s latest comments.

The S&P 500 futures index has risen 0.13% since the market opened about two hours after Trump’s post.

Trump’s refusal to accept Iran’s counteroffer dashes hopes of an imminent end to the war on Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said the war won’t be over until Iran’s uranium sites are dismantled.

Saylor signals another Strategy BTC buy, after talk of selling in Q1 earnings call

Michael Saylor, co-founder of Strategy, signaled that the Bitcoin treasury company will resume its BTC purchases this week, following an earnings call on Tuesday, during which he said the company may periodically sell portions of its treasury.

“Back to work, BTC,” Saylor said in an X post on Sunday, messaging that has previously preceded a BTC purchase, which typically the day after his posts.

The company last purchased BTC on April 27, buying 3,273 coins for about $255 million, which brought its total holdings to 818,334 BTC. Those holdings were worth about $61.8 billion, according to Strategy's website at the time of publication.

The company paused its BTC buying streak for one week ahead of Tuesday’s first quarter 2026 earnings call, in which Saylor said that the company could sell portions of its Bitcoin holdings periodically to pay dividends to holders of its credit instruments.

Strategy's history of Bitcoin purchases since 2020. Source: SaylorTracker.com