"First Stablecoin Stock" Delivers Across-the-Board Performance Beat

“Stablecoin First Stock” Circle’s latest quarterly earnings fully exceeded market expectations, while its stablecoin USDC circulation increased by 72%, reaching $75.3 billion. Boosted by this, on Wednesday, its stock price surged significantly, closing up 35.34% and hitting a six-week high, marking one of its strongest trading days since its initial listing in 2025.

The specific report shows that Circle’s revenue in Q4 2025 was $770 million, up 77% year-over-year, surpassing the previous market expectation of $747 million. Net profit was $133 million, an increase of $129 million year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA was $167 million, compared to the market expectation of around $130 million, a 412% increase. The RLDC profit margin, which measures profitability after deducting distribution costs, improved to 40%, from approximately 29.96% in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, USDC ecosystem data continues to signal “scaling”: by the end of 2025, USDC circulation grew 72% year-over-year to $75.3 billion; the total USDC minted in 2025 increased 107% to $82.4 billion, and redeemed increased 157% to $80.9 billion. Several analysts believe that USDC is still expanding rapidly, and Circle’s profitability is becoming stronger and more sustainable.

Circle has signed revenue-sharing agreements with distribution partners including Coinbase to promote USDC adoption. Coinbase also offers rewards to users holding USDC on its platform.

Market attention has also focused on Circle’s recent moves in ecosystem collaborations. Previously, Circle announced a partnership with prediction market platform Polymarket, which will expand USDC’s use as collateral and settlement asset. Some see these collaborations as helping to elevate USDC’s “default status” in on-chain trading and payments, further consolidating Circle’s growth trajectory.

Since late last year, Circle has mainly added new partnerships with major platforms such as Deutsche Börse, Visa, and Polymarket. Additionally, the Arc blockchain, which launched its public beta in October 2025, has attracted over 100 traditional financial institutions for testing, with potential future integration into the USDC ecosystem. Besides Layer 1 blockchains, Circle is also expanding USDC’s circulation scenarios through the CPN region. In February, CPN added direct payment systems for local currencies and stablecoins in Asia, the Middle East, and other regions.

At the same time, some institutions interpret this strong rebound as the market beginning to reprice the long-term potential of “digital commerce,” especially under the narrative that AI agents could drive increased automation in trading and settlement, leading to an upward revision of stablecoin’s potential as a high-frequency settlement medium.

Circle went public in June last year. As enthusiasm for stablecoins (digital assets usually pegged 1:1 to the US dollar) surged, coupled with President Trump signing a stablecoin regulation bill the following month, its stock price once soared significantly.

Despite revenue and USDC circulation both increasing year-over-year, Circle stated on Wednesday that the quarterly reserve asset return rate as of December 31, 2025, was only 3.8%. Most of the company’s profits come from interest income generated by U.S. Treasury bonds held in its reserves, which support its stablecoin issuance.

Currently, Circle is increasing investments to diversify revenue streams. The company expects non-interest income to reach $150–170 million by 2026, higher than the analyst forecast of $145.2 million.

Some institutions believe that Circle is working to “more controllably shape its own destiny” by improving RLDC profit margins and profitability. Even if USDC trading volume growth slows in the future, profit margin improvements and business diversification could help maintain a more stable profit trajectory. Based on this, some analysts recommend investors remain bullish on Circle and list it as one of the “high-quality crypto infrastructure” assets in the public market.

Circle forecasts that USDC circulation will grow 40% over the next few years. By 2026, the company expects that after deducting distribution costs, revenue profit margins will reach 38% to 40%.

In 2015, Circle became the first company to obtain a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), allowing it to operate virtual currency businesses within the state. In 2016, Circle also received an Electronic Money Institution license from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Currently, Circle holds various licenses across multiple regions, including the US (multi-state), UK, France, the EU, and Singapore, covering payments, transfers, and digital asset services.

USDC was designed with a compliance framework from the start, emphasizing full reserve backing. Deloitte serves as Circle’s independent auditor, with weekly disclosures of USDC reserves and monthly detailed reserve reports prepared according to standards set by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). In comparison, Tether releases quarterly reserve reports prepared by independent third-party accounting firm BDO Italia, following standards from the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB).

Notably, on February 25, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan delivered the 2026–2027 fiscal year government budget in the Legislative Council. He announced that Hong Kong has implemented a licensing system for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers, with the first licenses to be issued next month. The government and financial regulators will continue to promote licensed issuers to explore more application scenarios under compliant and risk-controlled conditions.