Circle has published a detailed defense of the economics behind its USDC stablecoin, saying it paid $819 million to distribution partners and in transaction costs during the first half of 2026. In an October 16 company post, the U.S.-listed issuer said it generated approximately $1.4 billion in revenue over that period. The disclosure offers a closer look at how revenue from a major dollar-backed token is divided among the issuer, the firms that distribute it and the systems needed to redeem it.

Where Circle says the revenue went

Circle described the $819 million as about 59 cents of each revenue dollar. It said another $473 million, or roughly 34 cents per dollar, was spent on licensing, banking relationships, settlement liquidity, compliance, products and blockchain integrations. The company characterized the remaining seven cents per dollar as net profit. Those are Circle's own categories and approximations, not a separate calculation of what any individual partner earned. The Block independently reported the publication of the figures on Friday but did not audit the allocation.

Related reporting: Circle Plans Stablecoin Expansion Across About 40 Emerging Markets

The breakdown matters because stablecoin issuers earn income from assets backing their tokens, while exchanges, wallets and payment firms help bring those tokens to users. Circle said partners can receive a share tied to USDC balances they attract and maintain. It named Coinbase as its largest and longest-standing partner and said more than 150 other partners have an economic interest in USDC's growth. The post did not provide a recipient-by-recipient schedule for the $819 million figure.

Redemption speed comes with conditions

Circle also addressed claims that stablecoin redemption is costly. It said all Circle customers can redeem USDC without a fee through standard banking rails, generally settling within two business days. Free near-real-time redemption is available for qualifying payment flows on Circle Payments Network and for eligible customers using Circle Platform products. Those faster terms should not be read as a universal promise of instant conversion for every wallet holder or every transaction. Eligibility, banking access and operating conditions still matter.

The issuer said it keeps cash positioned with bank partners to meet redemptions outside ordinary banking hours, accepting lower returns on that liquidity than it might earn on Treasury holdings. It reported more than $315 billion in USDC minting and redemptions during the first half. The company also cited more than $36 trillion in onchain USDC transaction volume and estimated that USDC represented roughly 77% of global stablecoin transaction volume in June, up from 60% a year earlier. These are issuer-reported measures of transfers and activity; they should not be equated with unique economic payments or net new demand.

What remains to be tested

Circle framed the post as an answer to newer stablecoin entrants that argue existing issuers keep too much of the economics or charge too much to redeem. Its argument is that sharing revenue and maintaining liquidity, compliance and settlement infrastructure must be considered together. Competitors may structure those trade-offs differently, and the company's promotional comparison does not establish that its model is best for every business.

For exchanges and fintechs considering a stablecoin partner, the practical questions are how much revenue sharing their own balances generate, whether their payment flows qualify for faster redemption and what happens under stress. Circle's October 16 figures make those questions more concrete, but they do not disclose contract terms for individual partners or independently prove the claimed transaction-volume share. The company is due to report third-quarter results on November 4, according to The Block; that filing will provide another point of comparison for its financial performance.

Sources

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