Arc Testnet Guide: Faucet, RPC and First Transactions

What are the Arc testnet parameters?

Verified against docs.arc.io. These are testnet values only. Arc mainnet is live with its own parameters — chain ID 5042 (0x13b2), RPC https://rpc.mainnet.arc.io, explorer https://explorer.arc.io — see Add Arc to MetaMask for the full mainnet setup.

Step 1: Connect your wallet

Add Arc as a custom EVM network using the values above. In MetaMask that is the network selector, then Add a custom network, then the six fields. Set the currency symbol to USDC — MetaMask may warn about a symbol mismatch, which is expected for a chain that uses a stablecoin as gas.

The full wallet setup walkthrough, including Ledger and other wallets, is here.

Step 2: Claim test USDC from Circle's faucet

Go to faucet.circle.com, select Arc testnet, and paste the address you want funded. The faucet sends test USDC directly; there is nothing to buy and nothing to bridge. Because gas on Arc is USDC, that single drip covers both your balance and your fees — you do not need a second faucet for a native coin, because there isn't one.

If the balance does not appear immediately, check the address on testnet.arcscan.app. The explorer is the source of truth; a wallet showing zero while the explorer shows a balance means the wallet is on a stale RPC connection.

Step 3: Send your first transaction

Send a small amount of test USDC to a second address you control. Watch two things:

• Finality. Arc's Malachite consensus produces deterministic finality in roughly 780 milliseconds. The transaction is settled when consensus commits, not probabilistically final after N confirmations. In practice it feels instant.
• The fee. Testnet transactions have averaged about $0.004. Note that the fee line is denominated in USDC, which is the whole point of the chain. Why that matters.

Then open the transaction hash on testnet.arcscan.app and read it end to end — sender, recipient, value, fee, status. How to read Arcscan properly.

Step 4: Deploy something

Arc is EVM-compatible, so the standard toolchain applies without modification. Point Hardhat or Foundry at https://rpc.testnet.arc.io with chain ID 5042002 and deploy as usual. Solidity contracts that compile for Ethereum compile for Arc.

If you would rather not write or deploy contracts by hand, Team Finance's no-code flow covers token creation, liquidity locks, team locks, vesting, staking pools, airdrops and multisender. Launching a token on Arc without coding walks the whole path.

Moving to mainnet

Arc mainnet is live now, and its values are different from testnet's — treat it as a separate environment, not a find-and-replace.

The chain ID changes. Testnet is 5042002; mainnet is 5042 (hex 0x13b2). Anywhere that ID is hardcoded — a wallet network config, a deployment script, a front-end network switcher — needs a second branch, not an edited value, because testnet keeps running.

The RPC and explorer URLs are different. Mainnet RPC is https://rpc.mainnet.arc.io and the mainnet explorer is https://explorer.arc.io. Testnet's are https://rpc.testnet.arc.io and testnet.arcscan.app and remain correct for testnet. Take mainnet values from docs.arc.io, and from nowhere else — do not accept one from a post, a Discord message or an ad, since a fake "official mainnet RPC" is a predictable phishing vector.

Contract addresses are separate per network. Circle's published testnet addresses — USDC, EURC, USYC, the CCTP messenger, the Gateway pair — do not carry over to mainnet. Mainnet has its own deployed addresses (for example, the CCTP TokenMessenger and MessageTransmitter). Any address baked into source, a subgraph manifest or an indexer config needs the mainnet value, verified against docs.arc.io.

Faucet USDC becomes real USDC. Gas on Arc is paid in USDC, so the mainnet version of "top up from the faucet" is a funded treasury operation: a gas wallet somebody owns, a balance somebody monitors, and gas booked as an operating cost. A hot wallet that runs to zero USDC on Arc does not degrade — it stops. There is no mainnet faucet.

What can you not test on testnet?

Real bridged USDC via CCTP settles on mainnet, not testnet, and mainnet-only listings or venue integrations depend on mainnet contracts. Use testnet to rehearse the flow, then repeat it on mainnet with real funds.

Also worth stating plainly: there is no ARC token to test, farm or claim. The May 2026 whitepaper describes a potential coordination asset in exploratory terms and Circle has made no decision to launch one. Testnet activity is not a confirmed airdrop qualification, and any site telling you it is has invented that. What is actually confirmed about the ARC token.

A short cutover checklist

• Network added and verified against the explorer.
• Faucet funds received; a first transfer executed and read on Arcscan.
• Contracts deployed and exercised on testnet, not just compiled.
• Launch mechanics rehearsed end to end: mint, lock liquidity, vest, distribute.
• Bookmarks saved for arc.io and docs.arc.io, so mainnet parameters come from Circle rather than from a search result on the day.

Rehearsing the launch sequence is the part most teams skip and most regret. Team Finance has been non-custodial since 2020 and has secured over $2.7 billion across 40,000+ projects on 26 chains — practise the flow on testnet first, then repeat it on mainnet, where fees target about $0.01 per transaction. Start with minting a token.