USDC growth lifts Circle Q4 revenue above estimates

Circle beat fourth-quarter revenue expectations on Wednesday, driven by a sharp increase in USDC circulation that lifted income from reserves and pushed the stock up more than 15% in premarket trading.

The company reported $770 million in total Q4 revenue, above the $739 million analyst estimate. USDC circulation rose 72% from a year earlier to $75.3 billion, boosting reserve income to $733 million as more tokens were issued and used on-chain.

USDC is a dollar-pegged token backed by reserves of cash and other short-term, low-risk assets such as U.S. Treasuries, a structure intended to keep its value near $1. Circle earns yield by investing the cash it holds to back USDC. Total on-chain USDC transaction volume increased 247% year over year to $11.9 trillion in the quarter.

Circle pointed to expanding adoption of USDC, with work under way in the U.S. and other markets to formalize oversight of dollar-pegged stablecoins. The company has pursued integrations that aim to make USDC more usable in payments and trading.

During the quarter, Circle received preliminary approval to establish a national trust bank charter, a step that would permit operation of a federally regulated institution focused on digital assets.

The company added partnerships, including with Visa to enable U.S. institutions to settle transactions in USDC, and an agreement with Polymarket connected to prediction markets.

Circle attributed the increase in reserve income to higher USDC circulation and activity, along with yields on the short-term assets backing the token. The combination of higher issuance and greater transaction volume lifted both reserve income and total revenue for the period.

As we reported earlier, Circle outlined a broad expansion of its stablecoin infrastructure for 2026, focused on corporate use of digital currencies and the rollout of its institutional blockchain, Arc. According to chief product and technology officer Nikhil Chandhok, the top priority is moving Arc from test mode into full production.

Arc is designed as a high-reliability L1 network for enterprises and institutional clients that require predictable performance and strict security guarantees, making USDC and other Circle tokens more practical for daily operations across businesses and financial institutions.