Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) outperformed Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, reporting $865 million in revenue for the third quarter of 2026. The $182 million beat over analyst estimates of roughly $788 million was boosted by the ARC token presale, which helped the USDC issuer make up for slowing income on its stablecoin reserves as interest rates fell.

Because most of Circle's revenue comes from interest earned on the assets backing USDC, its quarterly filings serve as one of the clearest public readouts of how interest-rate moves flow through stablecoin economics.

CRCL shares edged lower after the release, trading at $74.25, down nearly 1% from the previous close of $75.22 on November 3.

How Circle performed in Q3 2026

Circle's total revenue and reserve income rose 17% year-over-year. The company reported a 5% increase in net income from continuing operations to $226 million, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 85% to $317 million.

The headline $865 million figure topped Wall Street estimates, which ranged from $788 million to $802 million, alongside a 40-cent EPS consensus. Analysts had flagged falling rates on reserve assets and financial commitments tied to new products as potential pressure points for the company's reported numbers.

Circle attributed the 8% drop in income on the short-term assets backing USDC, which fell to $658 million, to a 61 basis-point decline in its reserve return rate. The hit from the 3.5% decline was partly offset by a 7% increase in circulating USDC supply to $73.3 billion, with growth averaging 8% for the quarter. That offset shows the mechanics of reserve income: the yield earned on the short-term assets backing USDC, scaled by the number of tokens in circulation.

While the shrinking yield and circulating supply growth largely canceled each other out, on-chain USDC transaction volume posted a 49% year-over-year increase to $13.9 trillion.

ARC presale opens a new income route

The one-time ARC presale accounted for $182 million of the $207 million Circle logged under its “Other Revenue” category. The non-recurring income came from raising about $222 million through the sale of ARC, the native token of the Arc blockchain, to investors including a16z crypto (now a16z Frontier), BlackRock, Apollo, and Intercontinental Exchange.

Arc's public mainnet went live on September 16 with more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders on day one, a list that includes BlackRock, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, and Visa. Circle also completed a genesis mint of 10 billion ARC tokens, becoming the first publicly traded company to mint a network token for a new layer-one blockchain.

Arc is expected to open a new revenue route as the chain grows, using USDC as gas and thereby turning on-chain activity into demand for Circle's core product.

The quarter also brought several strategic developments. Circle disclosed a $100 million equity commitment from Binance and a renewal of its USDC partnership. The company also signed a deal to acquire Tazapay, a Singapore-based cross-border payments firm, in a transaction expected to close in 2027, while USDC became a front-of-shirt brand on Chelsea Football Club kits for the 2026/27 season. With the presale income one-time in nature, these commitments offer concrete markers to watch as Circle builds income streams beyond rate-sensitive reserve income.