Circle Paid $819M of Its $1.4B First-Half Revenue to USDC Partners, Kept 7 Cents on the Dollar

Published October 18, 2026, 06:20 PKT. Based on Circle's October 16, 2026 blog post by chief commercial officer Kash Razzaghi (primary source), The Block's October 16, 2026 report (secondary source), and reporting from BlockchainReporter, CoinOTAG and CoinMarketCap Academy (secondary sources).

Circle opened its books on October 16, 2026, disclosing that it generated roughly $1.4 billion in revenue in the first half of 2026 and paid about $819 million of it to USDC distribution partners and transaction costs. That is 59 cents of every dollar flowing to the wallets, exchanges, banks, fintechs, enterprises and payment networks that put USDC in users' hands, chief commercial officer Kash Razzaghi wrote in a blog post titled "The Economics of USDC and Why Our Partners Win". Circle reinvested about $473 million, or 34 cents per dollar, in licenses, banking relationships, settlement liquidity, compliance programs, new product investments and blockchain integrations, and kept 7 cents of net profit from every dollar of revenue earned. The disclosure is a direct rebuttal to newer stablecoin issuers that claim incumbents keep too much of the economics and promise to share a "substantial majority" with partners, a pitch that landed about two weeks after Stripe's Bridge unit rolled out its revenue-sharing OUSD token, according to CoinOTAG.

The 59-34-7 split

The numbers behind what Razzaghi calls "a digital dollar in production" are large on every line. In the first half of 2026, USDC settled more than $36 trillion in onchain transaction volume, Circle minted and redeemed more than $315 billion of USDC, about $1.7 billion every day including weekends and holidays, and by June USDC carried roughly 77% of all global stablecoin transaction volume, up from 60% a year earlier. Redemption ran at industrial scale: in the first quarter of 2026 alone, Circle redeemed $71.8 billion in USDC, roughly 90% of the total supply in circulation at the time, and in the second quarter combined minting and redemption volume reached $170 billion, up 105% year over year, a pace no other stablecoin issuer matches, Razzaghi wrote. The $819 million payout merges distribution fees with transaction costs without breaking out the share of each, and Circle presented the first-half figures without any adjusted or restated label, so the print stands as reported.

Coinbase, Binance and the 150 partners

Distribution economics follow adoption, Razzaghi wrote, and the partners that bring the most USDC to market earn the most. Coinbase, described as Circle's largest and longest-standing partner, reported in its second-quarter results that average USDC held in its products reached an all-time high of $20 billion, up 44% year over year. In September, Binance, the world's largest exchange, signed a five-year commercial agreement and invested $100 million in Circle. More than 150 other partners hold an economic interest in USDC's growth across exchanges, wallets, neobanks, fintechs, payment platforms, banks and enterprises, the post said, and that broad base is why USDC's transaction-volume share kept climbing. The model itself is twofold: distribution partners that hold and grow USDC balances earn a share of the reserve income those balances generate, while customers that move payment flows over the Circle Payments Network or build on the Circle Platform can redeem for free in near real time.

Redemption is free, Circle says

Redemption drew the most confusion, so Razzaghi laid out three principles. Every Circle customer can redeem USDC for free, with standard banking rails typically settling in up to two business days. Payment flows on the Circle Payments Network can now settle in near real time for free, covering card networks, processors, remittance providers, enterprises and fintechs that settle real volume. Circle Platform customers can qualify for free near-real-time redemption by holding USDC balances on the platform or building through CPN, Arc, Circle Mint or Circle Wallets. The world's largest payment networks, including Visa and Mastercard, settle in USDC seven days a week, even when the banking system is closed. What makes the speed possible, he wrote, is a substantial pool of cash held at Circle's global network of bank partners, pre-positioned and ready to leave the moment a redemption is confirmed onchain. That cash earns less than it would in Treasuries, it must be available at every hour, and Circle carries the cost so customers do not have to wait. "We do not charge for it when a customer participates in the network," he wrote.

A dig at the revenue-sharing upstarts

Razzaghi's sharpest lines are aimed at the new issuers. "That reinvestment is not overhead," he wrote of the $473 million. "Without that foundation, a stablecoin is not a digital dollar; it is a token." A stablecoin that "distributes everything but funds nothing" leaves out the cost of redemption, compliance and resilience, he added, arguing the costs do not disappear just because an issuer declined to pay them. Circle lists the foundation as more than 55 licenses and registrations, including an OCC national trust bank charter and MiCA compliance; relationships with more than 25 partner banks, including systemically important institutions; reserves in a government money market fund managed by BlackRock and custodied at BNY, with monthly attestations; global compliance and sanctions programs across 185 countries; native deployments on more than 35 blockchains; and the liquidity to honor roughly $1.7 billion in daily mints and redemptions. USDC launched in 2018 as a consortium project and Circle took full governance in 2023, rebuilding the model around the principle that the issuer must be able to invest in the network. Circle reports third-quarter results on November 4, The Block noted, and William Blair analysts said last month the company could benefit from regulatory rulemaking and growing tokenized-asset activity into 2027, while Standard Chartered estimated stablecoin monthly transfer value has averaged nearly $10 trillion this year.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• Circle, October 16, 2026, primary source, "The Economics of USDC and Why Our Partners Win", by chief commercial officer Kash Razzaghi: roughly $1.4 billion in first-half 2026 revenue; about $819 million paid to USDC distribution partners and transaction costs, 59 cents of every dollar; about $473 million reinvested (34 cents per dollar) in licenses, banking relationships, settlement liquidity, compliance programs, new product investments and blockchain integrations; 7 cents of net profit per dollar; more than $36 trillion in onchain settlement volume; more than $315 billion minted and redeemed (about $1.7 billion a day); roughly 77% of global stablecoin transaction volume in June, up from 60% a year earlier; Q1 2026 redemptions of $71.8 billion (roughly 90% of supply at the time); Q2 combined minting and redemption volume of $170 billion, up 105% year over year; Coinbase average USDC in products of $20 billion in Q2 (all-time high, up 44% year over year); Binance five-year commercial agreement and $100 million investment in September; more than 150 partners with an economic interest in USDC; "That reinvestment is not overhead"; "Without that foundation, a stablecoin is not a digital dollar; it is a token"; "a stablecoin that distributes everything but funds nothing"; free redemption terms across standard rails, Circle Payments Network and Circle Platform; more than 55 licenses including an OCC national trust bank charter and MiCA; more than 25 partner banks; reserves in a BlackRock-managed government money market fund custodied at BNY with monthly attestations; compliance programs across 185 countries; native deployments on more than 35 blockchains
• The Block, October 16, 2026, secondary source: Circle reported approximately $1.4 billion in first-half revenue; $819 million to distribution partners and transaction costs; $473 million reinvested; blog post framed as pushback against new entrants; Circle to report third-quarter results on November 4; William Blair analysts on regulatory rulemaking and tokenized-asset activity supporting the stock into 2027
• CoinOTAG, secondary source: Circle's post landed roughly two weeks after Stripe's Bridge unit rolled out OUSD, a revenue-sharing dollar token; 150+ partners; 59 cents per dollar merges distribution fees with transaction costs; USDC price holding $1 peg, supply near 72.5 billion tokens, market cap about $72.53 billion
• BlockchainReporter, secondary source: USDC issuer framing as rebuttal to newer stablecoin issuers claiming incumbents keep too much of the economics; redemption terms restated (free via standard rails up to two business days, CPN and platform near real-time)
• CoinMarketCap Academy, secondary source: 59% of first-half revenue to partners and costs; 77% of global stablecoin transaction volume in June; Coinbase $20 billion average USDC held in Q2, up 44% year over year; Binance $100 million investment in September