Circle Posts Record Q4 Earnings as USDC Hits $75 Billion in Circulation

Circle just had its best quarter yet. The company behind USDC reported Q4 2025 earnings that beat analyst estimates across the board, sending shares up as much as 35% on February 25. This was the biggest single-day gain since Circle's IPO last June.

So what's driving the growth, and what does it mean for you?

The Numbers That Caught Wall Street Off Guard

Circle brought in $770 million in total revenue and reserve income for Q4 2025, a 77% jump from the same period a year earlier. Analysts had expected $747 million.

Net income came in at $133 million, compared to just $3 million in Q4 2024. Earnings per share hit $0.43—nearly three times the consensus estimate of $0.16.

Adjusted EBITDA reached $167 million, up 412% year-over-year. For the full year, Circle pulled in $2.75 billion in revenue and $582 million in adjusted EBITDA, doubling its 2024 figure.

Most of Circle's income still comes from interest earned on U.S. government securities held in reserve to back USDC. But as you'll see, that's starting to change.

USDC Is Growing Fast

USDC in circulation closed the year at $75.3 billion, up 72% from the end of 2024. On-chain transaction volume in Q4 alone hit $11.9 trillion—a 247% increase. Circle's stablecoin market share now stands at 28%, up from roughly 24% a year ago.

More wallets are holding USDC too. The number of wallets with at least $10 in USDC grew 59% to 6.8 million by year-end. That kind of broad adoption matters because it signals USDC isn't just sitting in trading accounts—people and businesses are actively using it.

Circle Is Building New Revenue Streams

This is arguably the most important part of the story. Circle generated $37 million in non-interest revenue in Q4, a massive jump from just $2.4 million in Q4 2024. This includes subscription fees, transaction fees, and services tied to its growing product suite.

The Circle Payments Network (CPN), which lets financial institutions move money using USDC, now has 55 banks and payment companies enrolled, with another 74 in the eligibility process. Annualized transaction volume on CPN recently hit $5.7 billion.

Major companies are also plugging into Circle's infrastructure:

Visa now allows U.S. issuers and acquirers to settle with USDC outside of regular banking hours

Intuit signed a multi-year deal to integrate USDC across its platform

Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market, adopted USDC as its core settlement asset

AI Agents Are Becoming a Demand Driver

Speaking on Bloomberg, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire flagged something worth paying attention to: AI agents are starting to use USDC for autonomous transactions.

Image via Bloomberg

As more software bots are built to handle payments and financial tasks on behalf of users, stablecoins become the natural settlement layer.

Allaire noted that activity in this space picked up significantly in early 2026.

What to Expect Going Forward

Circle is projecting 40% compound annual growth for USDC circulation over a multi-year period.

Non-interest revenue is forecast to hit $150 to $170 million in 2026, above what analysts had modeled.

The Arc blockchain—Circle's enterprise-grade network built for cross-border payments and capital markets—is on track for its mainnet launch later this year. The testnet has already logged over 166 million transactions.

Image via X

If you hold or trade USDC on LBank, Circle's results are a signal worth noting. USDC is now being woven into payment systems, corporate finance, and now AI-driven transactions.

The infrastructure supporting it is getting stronger, and institutional confidence is clearly building.

That doesn't mean USDC is risk-free—Circle still faces competition from Tether's USDT, which holds roughly 60% of the stablecoin market. But the gap is narrowing, and Circle's diversification into new revenue streams gives it more stability than it had a year ago.