India’s ARC Stablecoin Could Launch in Early 2026, Sources Say

India’s Asset Reserve Certificate (ARC), a fully collateralized stable digital asset developed collaboratively by Ethereum scaling and infrastructure leader Polygon and India-based fintech Anq, is reportedly targeting a potential launch in the first quarter of 2026, sources familiar with the matter told CoinDesk.

Each ARC token is expected to maintain a 1:1 peg with the Indian rupee and will be minted only when issuers acquire cash or cash equivalents such as fixed deposits, government securities, or cash balances. This design ensures transparency, safety, and regulatory compliance, addressing common issues seen in foreign-backed stablecoins or speculative tokens.

The ARC is intended to prevent liquidity outflows to dollar-backed stablecoins, keeping capital and innovation within India’s domestic economy while simultaneously promoting demand for public debt instruments.

Complementing the RBI’s Digital Currency
The proposed digital token will operate alongside the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) within a two-tier framework. Under this structure, the RBI’s CBDC functions as the ultimate settlement layer, safeguarding monetary sovereignty, while private-sector platforms manage the regulated interaction layer. This allows for responsible innovation in payments, programmable transactions, and remittances—all within a compliant regulatory framework.

This arrangement enables strong central oversight of the monetary base while fostering private-sector innovation. Sources noted that ARC will align with rupee partial convertibility: the INR remains fully convertible for current account transactions such as trade, business payments, and remittances, but is restricted for capital account flows to preserve economic stability.

Only business accounts will be authorized to mint ARC tokens, ensuring compliance with the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) that governs individual foreign exchange transactions. Additionally, the ARC ecosystem will leverage Uniswap v4 protocol hooks to limit token swaps to whitelisted addresses, reinforcing controlled access and regulatory adherence.

A Sovereign Stablecoin for Emerging Market Stability
India’s pursuit of a domestic stablecoin comes amid growing concerns over capital outflows from emerging markets to dollar-backed stablecoins. The U.S. GENIUS Stablecoin Act, which legalized dollar-backed stablecoins, has raised alarms about potential liquidity shifts away from emerging economies.

Standard Chartered recently warned that emerging-market banks could face deposit outflows of up to $1 trillion over the next three years as savers increasingly move toward dollar-backed stablecoins. The ARC aims to mitigate these risks by providing a sovereign, rupee-backed digital alternative within India’s regulated financial ecosystem.