Circle's USDC engine keeps growing even as revenue misses the mark

@circle posted $701 million in total revenue and reserve income for the second quarter of 2026, narrowly missing the average Wall Street consensus of $713.32 million. Despite the shortfall, the underlying $USDC network metrics told a more expansive story.

USDC growth powers ahead

$USDC in circulation reached $73.3 billion at quarter end, up 19% year over year, while onchain transaction volume surged 151% to $14.8 trillion. Reserve income of $668 million increased 5% year over year, driven primarily by 25% growth in average $USDC in circulation, partially offset by a 66 basis point decline in the reserve return rate.

Net income from continuing operations came in at $48 million, up $530 million year over year, driven by prior-year IPO stock-based compensation impacts. Adjusted EBITDA of $143 million grew 8% year over year. Despite the earnings miss, Circle shares increased more than 5% in premarket trading.

Arc blockchain heads to public mainnet on September 16

Arc is currently in private mainnet with more than 100 ecosystem and institutional builders and is on track for a public mainnet launch on September 16, 2026. BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation and Visa will secure the network alongside Circle as founding validators.

The September 16 public mainnet launch will unveil a full product suite that includes privacy capabilities, an agent stack for programmable finance, and support for tokenized real-world assets. BlackRock is expected to deploy BUIDL, its tokenized money market fund, on Arc, while DTCC will enable tokenization of assets it custodies, though not until the second half of 2027.

Circle also launched its Agent Stack in May 2026, currently home to 900+ paid services, with 99.3% of x402 agent-payment volume settling in $USDC. The combination of surging onchain volume, a growing institutional validator base, and the imminent Arc launch gives Circle a broader growth narrative even as its top line faces pressure from the current rate environment.

Sources:
Circle Q2 2026 Official Press Release (Circle.com)
Circle Q2 Revenue Narrowly Misses Wall Street Estimates (CoinTelegraph)
Circle Taps Visa, Mastercard and BlackRock as Arc Validators (Decrypt)