Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, reported US$ 865 million in revenue and reserve income in the third quarter of 2026, a 17% increase compared with the same period the previous year. Net income from continuing operations reached US$ 226 million, up 5%. Despite the positive results, the company also disclosed a reduction of approximately 5% in its workforce.
The figures were released this Wednesday (4). The restructuring, carried out during the quarter, generated US$ 9.1 million in expenses, mainly for advance notices, severance, benefits and other labor costs. According to Circle, the cuts aimed to align the organizational structure with the company's operating model and strategic priorities.
Financial performance exceeded market expectations. Analysts projected revenue of approximately US$ 778 million, while diluted earnings per share reached US$ 0.84, above the US$ 0.37 estimate cited by CoinDesk.
ARC token presale drives revenue while reserve income falls
One of the main factors behind the growth was the private presale of the ARC token, the native asset of the Arc blockchain, developed by Circle. The transaction accounted for US$ 182 million in revenue recognized in the quarter.
That amount exceeded the absolute increase itself of approximately US$ 125 million in total revenue compared with the third quarter of 2025.
Meanwhile, income from the reserves backing USDC, one of the company's main sources of revenue, fell 8% to US$ 658 million. The decline occurred mainly due to a drop of 0.61 of a percentage point in the rate of return on those reserves, partially offset by growth in the average amount of USDC in circulation.
Stablecoin activity, however, continued to advance. The volume of transactions carried out on blockchain with USDC reached US$ 13.9 trillion, an annual increase of 49%. The asset's average circulation reached US$ 73.3 billion, up 8%, although the volume in circulation at the end of the quarter remained practically stable compared with the previous year.
Circle's adjusted EBITDA also grew 85%, reaching US$ 317 million, driven by revenue from the ARC presale and by the reduction in distribution costs.
In addition to the financial results, the company highlighted the launch of Arc's public mainnet and the agreement to acquire Singapore-based international payments platform Tazapay. The acquisition is expected to close in 2027, subject to regulatory approvals.
