ARC presale boosts Circle Q3 revenue as reserve income drops 8%

• Q3 revenue at Circle reached $865 million, even as reserve income fell 8%.
• A 49% rise took USDC onchain transaction volume to $13.9 trillion, with average circulating supply growing 8% to $73.3 billion over the quarter.
• With support from $182 million in ARC token presale revenue and reduced distribution costs, adjusted EBITDA increased 85% to $317 million.

Higher Q3 revenue featured in Circle's (CRCL) earnings update on Wednesday, with the $182 million ARC token presale making up for a fall in reserve income.

ARC presale lifts Circle's Q3 revenue and earnings

At $865 million, the stablecoin issuer's total revenue and reserve income for Q3 were 17% above the year-earlier level, the company said. Adjusted EBITDA rose 85% to $317 million, alongside a 5% increase in net income from continuing operations to $226 million.

Revenue generated by the presale of its blockchain's ARC token, together with reduced distribution costs, partly explained the rise in adjusted EBITDA, according to Circle. Of the $207 million in revenue from "other" sources, up 627% year on year, $182 million came from the presale. In contrast, reserve income declined 8% to $658 million as a lower reserve return rate partly counteracted the increase in average USDC circulation.

During the quarter, an 8% year-on-year increase brought average USDC circulation to $73.3 billion. Onchain transaction volume, meanwhile, advanced 49% to $13.9 trillion.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said: “In Q3, we saw continued proof that institutions are building and expanding on USDC,”

Among the key Q3 milestones highlighted by Allaire were Tereina's integration of USDC and EURC into the SAP ecosystem, the shift by Visa to commercial stablecoin prefunding and the renewal of Binance's partnership with Circle. Annualised total payment volume on the Circle Payments Network reached $41.3 billion during the quarter, the company added.

On 16 September, Circle also brought the Arc blockchain's public mainnet online, with more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders involved from the outset. The network provides infrastructure for developing “the next generation of financial applications.” in Allaire's description.

Circle builds on strong H1 revenue with Q3 results

Circle's strong first-half performance in 2026 provides the backdrop to its latest results. In earlier reporting, the company put revenue at approximately $1.4 billion and USDC onchain transaction volume at more than $36 trillion.

More than $315 billion worth of USDC was minted and redeemed over the period, Circle reported, equivalent to a daily average of $1.7 billion. USDC distribution partners and transaction costs accounted for 59 cents of every dollar of H1 revenue, or about $819 million in total, the company also said.

A 1.7% gain on the day leaves CRCL trading at $76.5.