Circle Internet Group reported third-quarter results on Nov. 4. Total revenue and reserve income rose 17% from a year earlier to $865 million. Net income from continuing operations grew 5% to $226 million, and adjusted EBITDA jumped 85% to $317 million. Shares were up 3.26% in pre-market trading after the announcement.
Results are out for Q3, which brought platform milestones and strong financial results.
— Circle (@circle) November 4, 2026
→ Arc Mainnet launched Sept 16 with 11 founding validators and 100+ apps
→ CPN annualized TPV grew 15.2x YoY, with 205 financial institutions enrolled
→ Announced the planned acquisition… pic.twitter.com/ODPv9yHsfu
A token sale does most of the work
The growth came from outside Circle's core business. Other revenue reached $207 million, up 627%, and $182 million of that came from the presale of ARC, the native token of Circle's Arc blockchain. Reserve income, which is still the larger line, fell 8% to $658 million. The reserve return rate dropped 61 basis points to 3.5%, and 8% growth in average USDC in circulation only partly offset that.
Costs moved in Circle's favor. Total distribution, transaction and other costs fell 8% to $412 million, mostly because of lower distribution payments. Operating expenses rose 16% to $245 million, with higher spending on general and administrative work, IT infrastructure and marketing. The quarter also included $9.1 million in restructuring charges tied to a workforce reduction of about 5%.
Circle left its full-year guidance unchanged. It expects other revenue of $310 million to $330 million, which includes recognized ARC presale revenue, and adjusted operating expenses of $570 million to $585 million.
USDC circulation is flat where it counts
Average USDC in circulation was $73.3 billion, up 8% year over year. The end-of-period figure was $73.9 billion, unchanged from a year earlier. Circulation was nearly flat year over year and below consensus. USDC's share of the dollar stablecoin market slipped 183 basis points to 27%.
Usage looks stronger than supply. USDC onchain transaction volume grew 49% to $13.9 trillion, and the number of wallets holding more than $10 in USDC rose 16% to 7.3 million. Circle kept its multi-year target of 40% compound annual growth in USDC circulation through the cycle.
Competition for supply is intense. Tether's own third-quarter attestation, published Oct. 30, showed $191.45 billion in reserve assets and excess reserves of $7.95 billion.
The migration of Hyperliquid's USDC balances to Coinbase was expected to lift Circle's distribution payments to Coinbase to an estimated $327 million to $338 million for the quarter. Circle's total distribution costs still came in lower than a year ago.
Payments, Arc and a Singapore acquisition
Circle Payments Network reached $41.3 billion in annualized total payment volume. In a post on X, Circle said that figure grew 15.2 times year over year and that 205 financial institutions are enrolled. The company also signed a definitive agreement to buy Tazapay, a Singapore-based business-to-business cross-border payments platform. Tazapay brings more than $25 billion in annualized payment volume, over 60 banking and fintech partners and payout rails in more than 100 markets. About 60% of its volume already involves stablecoins. The deal is expected to close in 2027, pending regulatory approvals.
Arc's public mainnet launched on Sept. 16 with 11 founding validators and more than 100 apps. Circle minted the full initial supply of 10 billion ARC tokens, and the network is due to move to proof of stake in 2027.
Binance announced a $100 million equity investment in Circle and renewed its partnership to promote USDC, with a focus on emerging markets. Circle also became a principal partner of Chelsea FC, and its brand will appear on the front of the club's shirts from the 2026/27 season. Samsung Wallet now lets eligible US Galaxy users send USDC to bank accounts in more than 60 countries. Visa moved its Visa Direct stablecoin prefunding from pilots to commercial deployment.
CEO Jeremy Allaire said:
"In Q3, we saw continued proof that institutions are building and expanding on USDC."
Gunel Ismayilova
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