Circle's H1 2026 revenue reaches $1.4 billion as USDC volume tops $36 trillion
DeFi & Yields ·
Circle disclosed first-half 2026 financials showing most revenue flowing to distribution partners, with USDC now handling the majority of global stablecoin activity.
Circle reported roughly $1.4 billion in revenue for the first six months of 2026, according to figures detailed by wublockchain.xyz. Of that total, $819 million, or 59%, was paid out to USDC distribution partners and absorbed by transaction costs, leaving a comparatively thin slice for the company itself.
A further $473 million, equal to 34% of revenue, covered operational overhead including licensing arrangements, banking relationships, settlement liquidity, compliance functions, and product development. After these two categories, Circle was left with approximately 7% of revenue as net profit, underscoring how much of the company's top line is consumed by the costs of running a distribution network and maintaining regulatory and banking infrastructure.
Alongside the earnings breakdown, Circle said that customers on the Circle Payments Network and qualifying Circle Platform users can now redeem USDC at no cost on a near-real-time basis, available continuously rather than during limited windows. This redemption capability points to an effort to make USDC more liquid and accessible for partners operating payment rails built on the token.
On usage, Circle stated that USDC generated more than $36 trillion in on-chain transaction volume during the first half of 2026. The company said that figure translated to about 77% of all global stablecoin transaction volume recorded in June, a share that would place USDC well ahead of other stablecoins by that measure, based on Circle's own reporting.
The revenue breakdown and volume figures come from Circle's own disclosures, and the same set of numbers was corroborated by a second source tracking the same report, with two distinct sources covering the figures in total. What remains unclear from the disclosed material is how the 59% share paid to distribution partners compares with prior periods, and whether the newly expanded free redemption feature will affect Circle's cost structure or net margin in subsequent reporting periods.