Circle says 59% of H1 revenue went to USDC partners and costs

Circle said on Oct. 16 that it paid about $819 million of its $1.4 billion in first-half 2026 revenue to USDC distribution partners and transaction costs, as it defended its revenue-sharing model against new stablecoin entrants. In a blog post by Circle COO Kash Razzaghi, the company said that amounted to 59 cents of each revenue dollar.

Circle said it spent another $473 million, or about 34 cents per dollar, on licenses, banking relationships, liquidity, compliance, products and blockchain integrations. It reported seven cents in net profit per revenue dollar. The post did not break down how much of the $819 million went to partners and how much went to transaction costs.

What are rivals promising USDC partners?

Circle’s post referred to new issuers promising to share a “substantial majority” of their economics, but did not name competitors. Unchained reported that Open USD, a stablecoin backed by more than 140 companies including Coinbase, Visa and Stripe, would give partners its reserve earnings minus a management fee.

How does Circle calculate partner payouts?

Circle said partners earn a share of reserve income based on the USDC balances they bring to and hold on their platforms. It cited Coinbase’s second-quarter average of $20 billion in USDC held in its products, up 44% year over year, and said more than 150 other partners have an economic interest in USDC.

Circle also said USDC processed more than $36 trillion in onchain transaction volume in the first half of 2026 and accounted for about 77% of global stablecoin transaction volume in June, up from 60% a year earlier. The company is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Nov. 4.

Source material

• blog post by Circle COO Kash Razzaghi — circle.com
• Unchained reported — unchainedcrypto.com