Stablecoin issuer Circle reported its third-quarter results before the market opened Wednesday in the U.S.: total revenue and reserve income came to $865 million, up 17% year over year; adjusted EBITDA was $317 million, up 85%.
Nearly all of the increase came from a one-off item. Other revenue was $207 million, up 627% year over year, of which $182 million was revenue recognized from the private presale of ARC tokens. Core reserve income was $658 million, down 8% year over year. The reserve return rate fell to 3.5%, down 61 basis points over the year. Excluding presale revenue, revenue was about $683 million, down 7.7% year over year.
Usage continued to expand. USDC on-chain transaction volume reached $13.9 trillion, up 49% year over year; average circulation was $73.3 billion, up just 8% and 4.2% below the second quarter’s $76.5 billion. Its market share at quarter-end was 27%, down 183 basis points year over year.
As interest rates fall, reserve income is shrinking along with them. Circle is betting its next big story on the Arc mainnet: launched September 16, with an initial supply of 10 billion ARC tokens, it will transition to proof of stake in 2027. The company has signed an agreement to acquire cross-border payments platform Tazapay and laid off about 5% of its workforce this quarter.
$USDC Current price: 1.0007; the peg is unchanged. Usage is growing, while interest income is falling—these two trends are moving in opposite directions.
Nearly all of the increase came from a one-off item. Other revenue was $207 million, up 627% year over year, of which $182 million was revenue recognized from the private presale of ARC tokens. Core reserve income was $658 million, down 8% year over year. The reserve return rate fell to 3.5%, down 61 basis points over the year. Excluding presale revenue, revenue was about $683 million, down 7.7% year over year.
Usage continued to expand. USDC on-chain transaction volume reached $13.9 trillion, up 49% year over year; average circulation was $73.3 billion, up just 8% and 4.2% below the second quarter’s $76.5 billion. Its market share at quarter-end was 27%, down 183 basis points year over year.
As interest rates fall, reserve income is shrinking along with them. Circle is betting its next big story on the Arc mainnet: launched September 16, with an initial supply of 10 billion ARC tokens, it will transition to proof of stake in 2027. The company has signed an agreement to acquire cross-border payments platform Tazapay and laid off about 5% of its workforce this quarter.
$USDC Current price: 1.0007; the peg is unchanged. Usage is growing, while interest income is falling—these two trends are moving in opposite directions.
