Circle：Sluggish Market? The Top Stablecoin Stock Continues to Expand
Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, reported its Q1 2026 earnings on May 11th, Eastern Time.
Against a backdrop of weak crypto market sentiment, USDC's average circulation in Q1 was $752 billion, with a modest 2% sequential increase to $770 billion by quarter-end. New minting volumes declined due to the poor crypto market, but remained high, indicating demand expansion beyond crypto trading. USDC's market share remained stable at 28% of the total stablecoin market, while competition from Tether's USDT persists.
A key highlight was "Other Revenue," which reached $42 million, more than doubling year-over-year, though sequential growth slowed to 13%. This revenue stream, including fees from services like Web3 software, the Cipher payment network (CPN), and the Arc blockchain, is critical for diversifying away from interest income. Circle's internally held USDC share increased to 18%, helping to improve gross margin by 130 basis points to 41.4% by reducing external sharing costs.
However, profitability was pressured as total revenue growth slowed, primarily due to the significant weight of interest income, which is tied to USDC规模 and Treasury rates. Adjusted EBITDA was $133 million with a 19.2% margin.
Management maintained its full-year 2026 guidance for adjusted operating expenses ($570-$585 million) and other revenue ($150-$170 million). The long-term target for USDC's CAGR remains 40%, though near-term volatility is expected. The article concludes that while Circle's current valuation of $28 billion appears reasonable after a recent recovery, further upside depends on the pace of stable币 adoption and potential positive sentiment from the advancement of regulatory clarity acts like CLARITY.
链捕手05/12 01:25
