NEW YORK, September 3, 2026, 16:51 EDT —
- Circle closed at $103.23, up 16.5%, on 22.2 million shares.
- A 66-basis-point yield drop erased 77% of USDC growth’s reserve-income benefit.
- Quarterly revenue rose 6.6%, while adjusted EBITDA increased 8% to $143.5 million.
Circle Internet Group, Inc. NYSE:CRCL jumped 16.5% to $103.23 on Thursday. The shares eased to $102.49 at 16:51 EDT Yahoo Finance.
The rally matters because Circle remains highly sensitive to interest rates. Its latest filing shows rapid USDC growth barely outran falling reserve yields.
Average USDC circulation grew 25.2% in the second quarter. That added $147.4 million to reserve income. A 66-basis-point yield decline removed $113.9 million, or 77% of that benefit Circle’s quarterly filing.
Circle shares held most of their closing surge
Price in U.S. dollars; prior close through aftermarket.
As of . Source: Yahoo Finance. Five-minute observations; prices rounded.
Buying accelerated after the opening bar closed at $94.67. Circle reached $103.28 intraday. Turnover totaled 22.2 million shares.
The move was not isolated. Coinbase Global, Inc. NASDAQ:COIN gained 10.1%. Robinhood Markets, Inc. NASDAQ:HOOD rose 16.6%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust NYSEARCA:SPY added 1.0% COIN; HOOD; SPY.
Circle’s reserve income increased just 5.3% to $667.7 million. Other revenue climbed 41.1% to $33.6 million. Reserve income still supplied 95.2% of the quarterly total.
USDC growth met a powerful rate offset
Year-over-year change in second-quarter reserve income, U.S. dollars.
Lower yields absorbed 77.3% of the circulation-driven benefit.
Source: Circle Form 10-Q, quarter ended June 30, 2026.
Distribution, transaction and other costs reached $412.5 million. That consumed 58.8% of revenue. Payments to Coinbase alone totaled $324.6 million, or 79% of distribution costs.
Revenue less distribution costs rose 15% to $288.8 million. Its margin widened three points to 41%. Adjusted EBITDA increased 8% to $143.5 million second-quarter results.
Only 41 cents of each revenue dollar cleared distribution costs
Second-quarter share of $701.3 million in revenue and reserve income.
Source: Circle Q2 2026 results. Non-GAAP EBITDA; percentages use unrounded reported values.
Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire said the results reflected “the current rate environment and a crypto market that has slowed.” He added that recent activity told a different story.
Arc’s public mainnet launch on September 16 is the next confirmed catalyst. Circle said more than 100 institutions and ecosystem builders were involved. Execution now matters.
Circle had 252.7 million Class A and B shares outstanding on June 30. Thursday’s close implies roughly $26.1 billion of equity value. That is about 9.3 times annualized second-quarter revenue, before adjustments.
Risks: Faster Federal Reserve easing would reduce reserve returns. Stablecoin redemptions could shrink USDC. Tougher distribution terms, competition and Arc execution could also compress retained revenue.
The rally prices more than a crypto rebound. Investors are betting circulation growth can outrun both rate cuts and partner costs.
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