Developer Infrastructure · 7 min read
Account abstraction on Arc, and what it adds on top of USDC gas
Gas on Arc is already USDC. Here's what ERC-4337 smart accounts and paymasters actually add on top, and which providers document Arc support.
Arc's gas token is already USDC, which solves the volatility problem account abstraction is usually pitched to fix elsewhere. What ERC-4337 smart accounts and paymasters add on top is who holds the USDC that pays gas and how a user authenticates — sponsored transactions so an end user needs zero USDC in their own wallet, session keys and passkey login instead of a seed phrase, and a paymaster system that can let other stablecoins cover gas indirectly. As of 2 September 2026, Circle's documentation names eleven third-party account-abstraction providers for Arc; this guide covers what each is documented to offer.
Why account abstraction still matters when gas is already USDC
On most L1s, ERC-4337's headline pitch is abstracting away a volatile native gas token — sponsoring a user's ETH gas so they can transact holding only the app's token. Arc removes that specific problem at the protocol level: gas is USDC, 18 decimals, EIP-1559-style base fee. What's left for account abstraction to solve on Arc is narrower and still real: a wallet with zero USDC in it cannot transact at all, so someone still has to sponsor first-time users, and consumer-grade wallets still benefit from passkey or social login instead of seed-phrase custody, session keys, and batched transactions. Circle's own materials describe Arc's paymaster system as able to let *other* stablecoins cover gas indirectly — the paymaster holds or accepts a different asset and settles the USDC cost itself — a materially different pitch from "we sponsor your gas" on a volatile-token chain. Built on Arc did not find a fully specified public description of that mechanism's constraints as of 2 Sep 2026, so treat it as directionally confirmed, not fully documented.
The providers Circle documents
Circle's account-abstraction reference names eleven providers, each with a stated Arc-relevant capability. Ten file under this guide's own category; Blockradar does not — see below.
Biconomy
Builds on Arc: Provides modular smart accounts, paymasters and bundlers for Arc apps. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction
Circle Wallets
Builds on Arc: Circle's own developer- and user-controlled wallet platform for Arc. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction
Crossmint — separately confirmed same-day Arc testnet support on 28 Oct 2025.
Builds on Arc: Offers wallet-as-a-service with email/OAuth onboarding, live on Arc testnet since 28 Oct 2025. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction · Project page
Dynamic — separately confirmed via a Circle-authored integration tutorial on developers.circle.com.
Builds on Arc: Provides wallet orchestration with native ERC-4337 and passkey support for Arc. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction · Project page
Para
Builds on Arc: Offers wallet and authentication infrastructure for fintech apps on Arc. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction
Pimlico
Builds on Arc: Provides bundler and paymaster infrastructure for ERC-4337 accounts on Arc. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction
Privy
Builds on Arc: Provides embedded-wallet APIs with email/social login for Arc apps. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction · Project page
thirdweb — independently confirmed via thirdweb's own Arc Testnet page, which documents EIP-4337 and EIP-7702 gas sponsorship directly.
Builds on Arc: Ships EIP-4337/EIP-7702 gas sponsorship and embedded wallets for Arc via its own SDK. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction
Turnkey
Builds on Arc: Provides programmable key infrastructure and policy controls for Arc wallets. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction
ZeroDev
Builds on Arc: Provides an SDK for ERC-4337 smart accounts with session keys on Arc. · Role: Serves · Category: Developer Infrastructure → Account abstraction
Blockradar files elsewhere
Blockradar appears on Circle's own account-abstraction reference alongside the ten above, with infrastructure and APIs for smart-account management and transaction bundling at scale, and is also a Circle Developer Grants Cohort 1 recipient reported to have processed over $950m across 182,000 wallets (a reported figure, not Circle-confirmed). Built on Arc's canonical map files it under Wallets & Custody → Embedded wallets instead — the product is embedded wallet-as-a-service, not a developer-facing AA SDK.
Builds on Arc: Provides embedded smart-account infrastructure for Arc apps at scale. · Role: Serves · Category: Wallets & Custody → Embedded wallets · Project page
What's absent from the documented list
Safe and Alchemy's Account Kit do not appear on Circle's account-abstraction vendor list as of 2 Sep 2026, and Built on Arc found no independent Arc-specific integration documentation from either. Alchemy does appear elsewhere in Circle's stack as a documented RPC provider, a different layer from AA specifically. This is an absence from the confirmed record, not a statement that either company has decided against Arc.
Reading these claims correctly
Appearing on Circle's list means Circle's documentation describes the provider's stated capability on Arc; it is not an audit of reliability, an endorsement, or a pricing claim. Dynamic and thirdweb have a second, independent confirmation beyond Circle's list — a stronger signal than the list alone. Everyone else here is confirmed only through Circle's curated documentation, and none of the eleven's own sites makes a mainnet-specific Arc claim as of 2 Sep 2026 — the whole category is documented against testnet.
For end users deciding which wallet to actually use, rather than which infrastructure a builder integrates, Meme Central covers that consumer-facing question: best wallets for Arc.
Sources: - Arc account abstraction providers - Arc gas and fees reference - thirdweb: Arc Testnet - Circle: Dynamic integration tutorial - Crossmint, X post, 28 Oct 2025
*Built on Arc is an independent directory. Arc is a Circle product; we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Circle.*
Questions
Does account abstraction change what gas token Arc uses?
No. Arc's gas token is USDC regardless of whether an app uses smart accounts. AA changes who pays it and how a user authenticates, not the underlying asset.
What exactly does "the paymaster can allow other stablecoins to pay gas" mean?
Per Circle's framing, a paymaster contract can accept a different stablecoin from the user and settle the actual USDC gas cost on their behalf. Built on Arc did not find a detailed public specification of which stablecoins or what conversion mechanism is supported as of 2 Sep 2026.
Is any one of these eleven providers a Circle-official recommendation?
Circle's documentation lists all eleven without ranking or singling one out, and Built on Arc mirrors that.
Do I need account abstraction to build on Arc?
No. Arc supports standard EOA wallets and ordinary EVM transactions without any AA layer; AA is additive, not a requirement.
Has any of these providers committed to Arc mainnet specifically?
Not as far as Built on Arc could verify — every documented integration reviewed here is written against Arc Testnet.