South Africa’s ZARU Stablecoin Goes Live on Arc With ZAR/USDC Onchain FX Pair
The ZARU/USDC pair will settle atomically on Arc through StableFX’s Request-for-Quote (RFQ) engine, meaning both sides of a transaction settle simultaneously or neither transaction is completed.
South Africa’s first institutional-grade rand (ZAR) stablecoin, ZAR Universal (ZARU) , has gone live on Arc and launched as a founding currency pair on Circle StableFX, a platform designed to enable 24/7 programmable onchain foreign exchange using fully reserved stablecoins and instant settlement.
ZARU is issued by BlockTower under a licence from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). The stablecoin is fully reserved and independently audited, with every ZARU in circulation backed one-to-one by South African rand held onshore in the country.
The ZARU/USDC pair will settle atomically on Arc through StableFX’s Request-for-Quote (RFQ) engine, meaning both sides of a transaction settle simultaneously or neither transaction is completed. The model is designed to reduce counterparty risk associated with traditional foreign exchange transactions.
USDC, which is issued through regulated entities of Circle, is fully reserved and redeemable one-to-one for US dollars. Both ZARU and USDC settle on Arc, an open Layer-1 blockchain developed by Circle for financial markets, real-time money movement and programmable economic activity.
Circle said the launch gives the South African rand access to institutional onchain foreign exchange infrastructure.
“StableFX was built to bring institutional FX onchain – with atomic settlement, RFQ execution, and real liquidity from day one.We welcome ZARU as the first African stablecoin on the platform, bringing local regulatory oversight and the high standards of the Circle Partner Stablecoins program to institutional markets.”
– Nikhil Chandhok, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Circle
Luno will serve as the primary exchange venue for ZARU/USDC liquidity, bringing its regulated trading infrastructure and institutional client base to the network. The companies said liquidity is expected to deepen as institutional market makers join StableFX.
“With ZARU live on Arc Mainnet, the rand now has global institutional reach – backed one-to-one by reserves held onshore in South Africa. Programmable money supported by institutional market makers onchain, the infrastructure is now in place”
– Vighnesh Patel, CEO, BlockTower
The reserve structure behind ZARU was designed to meet the requirements of institutional counterparties and support integration into enterprise-grade global networks such as Arc.
“Globally compliant liquidity is the foundation of any serious institutional digital asset strategy. ZARU gives institutions a ZAR-denominated settlement that meets the regulatory bar, connected to a global network they already trust. Local compliance, global reach – that’s exactly what we’ve been building towards.”
– James Lanigan, CEO, Luno
