people · May 16, 2026
Circle Handles $21.5T Volume in Q1 but Profit Drops 15% Amid $242M Expansion Spend
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Circle processed $21.5T in transaction volume during Q1 2026 while USDC circulation reached $77B. Profit fell 15% short of the $715M revenue target due to $242M spent on expansion and stock-based compensation. Circle pivots from stablecoin issuer to operating system via its $3B ARC token valuation and AI agent stack. Circle spent big on overhead to avoid becoming a low-margin commodity later.
Spend governor blocked model creation: provider_circuit_open (lane=dev, provider=together)