Circle (USDC) reported a 263% jump in stablecoin on-chain volume to $21.5 trillion for the first quarter on Monday, even as net income slipped 15%.
Circle Q1 Volume Record
The stablecoin issuer posted total revenue and reserve income of $694 million, a 20% rise from a year earlier, according to its earnings release.
Wall Street consensus had pegged revenue at about $715 million.
USDC in circulation reached $77 billion at quarter-end, up 28% year over year.
The token captured 63% of all stablecoin transaction volumes during the period, per Visa Onchain Analytics. Meaningful wallets holding more than $10 in USDC climbed 47% to 7.2 million.
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Profit Squeeze Hits CRCL
Net income from continuing operations fell to $55 million from $65 million in the prior-year quarter, the company said.
Stock-based compensation reached $51.8 million, roughly four times the $12.7 million booked in Q1 2025, driven by post-IPO equity awards and related payroll taxes.
Overall operating expenses jumped 76% to $242 million, reflecting Circle's spending on product, distribution, and infrastructure.
Adjusted EBITDA, which strips out the equity charges, grew 24% to $151 million. Reserve income rose 17% to $653 million.
Circle disclosed a $222 million ARC token presale at a $3 billion fully diluted valuation, backed by a16z crypto, BlackRock, ARK Invest, and Apollo Funds, among other investors. The token is meant to support governance and operations on Circle's coming Arc Layer-1 network.
Allaire Targets Agent Economy
Chief executive Jeremy Allaire said the quarter showed "strong execution" against a wider opportunity tied to the convergence of AI platforms and economic operating systems.
The company is rolling out an Agent Stack that pairs Circle CLI, Agent Wallets, and an Agent Marketplace with the existing Nanopayments product on Circle Gateway. Allaire has framed AI agents transacting in USDC as a core growth thesis for 2026.
The pivot follows a stretch of regulatory uncertainty in the stablecoin sector. CRCL shares rallied close to 20% on May 4 after lawmakers reached a bipartisan compromise on the CLARITY Act, which removed an overhang tied to stablecoin yield rules that had pressured the stock for months.
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