Circle’s USDC reached $75.3 billion as reserve income drove quarterly profit

Circle Internet Group reported on February 25, 2026 that USDC circulation reached $75.3 billion on December 31, 2025, an increase of 72% from one year earlier. The stablecoin issuer also recorded $133.4 million of fourth-quarter net income from continuing operations, compared with $4.4 million in the corresponding 2024 quarter.

The results mattered beyond Circle’s NYSE-listed shares. They provided a public-company view into the economics of a major dollar stablecoin: growth in tokens outstanding expanded the reserve base from which Circle earned interest, even as the return on those reserves declined.

Circulation outweighed lower reserve yields

For the three months ended December 31, 2025, Circle reported $770.2 million in total revenue and reserve income, up 77% from $435.4 million a year earlier. Reserve income supplied $733.4 million of that total. By Coinburn’s calculation from the furnished financial statements, reserve income therefore represented 95.2% of quarterly revenue and reserve income.

Average USDC circulation during the quarter was $76.2 billion, double the year-earlier level. Circle’s reserve return rate, however, fell by 68 basis points to 3.8%. Reserve income still increased 69% because the larger average circulation more than offset the lower yield.

That relationship was central to the company’s institutional significance and its risk profile. More USDC in circulation enlarged Circle’s interest-earning reserve base, but the revenue produced by that base remained sensitive to short-term interest rates. Distribution and transaction costs also rose 52% to $460.6 million as payments to distribution partners increased.

Circle reported $55.2 million of operating income from continuing operations. The larger $133.4 million net result included $85.0 million of other income, which management attributed primarily to a benefit from the reduced fair value of convertible debt following a lower share price, gains on investment digital assets and higher interest income on corporate cash. The quarterly profit therefore did not arise solely from stablecoin operations.

USDC activity expanded, with measurement limits

Circle said USDC processed $11.9 trillion of onchain transaction volume during the fourth quarter, 247% more than in the comparable 2024 period. It also reported $82.4 billion minted and $80.9 billion redeemed during the quarter.

Those company-defined measurements should not be treated as equivalent to purchases, payments or unique economic activity. Onchain volume can include transfers between wallets, exchanges, bridges and financial applications, and the same units can move repeatedly. The circulation figure is a point-in-time balance at December 31, while transaction volume, minting and redemptions cover the full three-month period.

Circle placed USDC’s share at 28% of its defined stablecoin market. That percentage used CoinMarketCap data and compared USDC with dollar-denominated, fiat-backed stablecoins having more than $100 million in circulation. It was not a measure of every stablecoin or all dollar activity on public blockchains.

The market recognized the scale

Reuters reported that Circle’s Class A shares, traded on the New York Stock Exchange as CRCL, were up nearly 30% during the afternoon of February 25. That was an intraday observation rather than an official closing return, and it does not prove that any single operating metric caused the move.

The event-day evidence supported a narrower conclusion: USDC had expanded substantially through December 31, and that expansion produced strong quarterly reserve income despite a lower reserve return rate. It did not establish that circulation would continue growing, that interest rates would remain favorable or that reported onchain volume represented comparable growth in real-world payments.

Full-year results reinforced the distinction between scale and accounting profitability. Circle reported $2.747 billion in revenue and reserve income for 2025 but a $69.5 million net loss from continuing operations. The company said the annual result was materially affected by $424 million of stock-based compensation associated with vesting conditions met by its 2025 initial public offering.