Circle says partners get 59 cents of USDC revenue
Circle published a breakdown of its first-half revenue to show that most of the money earned on USDC reserves flows to partners, as rival networks backed by Coinbase, Stripe and BlackRock offer businesses a bigger cut.
Circle USDC partner economics are now public in unusual detail. In a blog post on Friday, Oct. 16, chief commercial officer Kash Razzaghi said the company earned about $1.4 billion of revenue in the first half of 2026 and handed roughly $819 million to distribution partners and to cover transaction costs, or about 59 cents of every revenue dollar. Circle kept about 7 cents as net profit.
What happened
The remaining $473 million, roughly 34 cents per dollar, went into licenses, banking relationships, settlement liquidity, compliance and product work, Circle said. CoinDesk noted that this figure also included about $214 million of stock-based compensation and related costs.
The post leaned on scale. USDC settled more than $36 trillion of on-chain volume in the first half, and Circle minted and redeemed more than $315 billion, about $1.7 billion a day. By June, USDC accounted for roughly 77% of all stablecoin transaction volume worldwide, compared with 60% twelve months before, the company said.
Circle also addressed redemption fees directly. Standard redemptions through banking rails are free and settle in up to two business days, while customers using the Circle Payments Network or building on the Circle Platform can now redeem for free in near real time.
Partners take part in two ways, Circle said. Distributors that hold and grow USDC balances earn a share of the reserve income those balances generate, and businesses that build on its platform, including Arc, Circle Mint and Circle Wallets, can qualify for free near-real-time redemption. Combined minting and redemption reached $170 billion in the second quarter, up 105% from a year earlier.
Why it matters
The timing is defensive. Coinbase, Circle's largest partner, also backs Open USD alongside Stripe and BlackRock. That network, unveiled in June, lets businesses mint and redeem without fees and passes reserve income minus a management fee to participants, CoinDesk reported. Paxos-led Global Dollar Network, issuer of USDG, also shares reserve income.
Razzaghi's answer is that the costs do not vanish. "The costs of redemption, compliance, and resilience don't disappear just because the issuer declined to pay them," he wrote, without naming Open USD. Circle said it processed $71.8 billion of redemptions in the first quarter, about 90% of supply at the time, and holds pre-positioned cash at banks to honor them around the clock.
Circle listed what that spending buys: over 55 licenses and registrations, among them a national trust bank charter from the OCC and MiCA compliance in Europe, ties to more than 25 partner banks, and reserves parked in a BlackRock-run government money market fund held at BNY. Cash kept at banks for instant redemptions earns less than Treasuries, which Circle presented as the costliest part of the model.
Circle USDC partner economics also reward size. Coinbase reported a record $20 billion of average USDC held in its products in the second quarter, up 44%, and Binance invested $100 million in Circle in September under a five-year deal. That push sits alongside Circle's plan to enter 40 new markets and its significant e-money token status in Europe.
What's next
Investors were not reassured on the day. Circle shares closed at $82.25, down 5.43%, according to CoinDesk market data. The next read on whether partners are drifting will come with Circle's third-quarter results and any shift in Coinbase's USDC balances.
Circle says more than 150 partners have an economic interest in USDC. How many of them test rival offers, and on what terms, will decide whether Circle USDC partner economics need to change.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.