Circle Cut 5% of Staff in Q3, Disclosed Only in Earnings Footnotes

Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, cut roughly 5% of its workforce in the third quarter and booked a $9.1 million restructuring charge — a reduction it disclosed on Nov. 4 not in its business highlights, but in footnotes to its financial tables.

The disclosure timing matters for anyone reading the company's labor signals. Net income from continuing operations reached $226 million in the same quarter the cuts occurred, which means the layoffs arrived despite profitability, not because of its absence. The company said the reductions were "designed to better align our organizational structure with our operating model and strategic priorities."

What did the restructuring actually cost?

The $9.1 million charge covered notice-period pay, severance, employee benefits and related costs, according to Circle's filings. A $5.7 million reversal of stock-based compensation, triggered by departing employees forfeiting unvested shares, partly offset that expense. The reversal is an accounting entry; the severance is cash.

Is revenue growth as strong as the headline suggests?

Not entirely. Total revenue and reserve income rose 17% year over year to $865 million, and net income climbed 5%. But other revenue jumped to $207 million from $29 million largely because of a $182 million private presale of Circle's ARC token. Strip out that one-time sale, and total revenue and reserve income would have fallen.

Adjusted EBITDA, which also included the presale contribution, rose 85% to $317 million. Reserve income — the interest Circle earns on Treasuries and cash backing USDC — dropped 8% to $658 million, as the reserve return rate fell 61 basis points to 3.5%. Average USDC circulation grew 8% to $73.3 billion, but volume growth did not offset the lower yield.

What did leadership say — and not say?

CEO Jeremy Allaire called Q3 "a big quarter for Circle" but did not mention the layoffs in his results comments or in his accompanying post on X. CRCL shares slipped about 1.2% to $74.33 in premarket trading after gaining 4.4% the prior day. Allaire highlighted the company's payments network reaching $41 billion in annualized volume, up 15-fold.

Where do costs and operations stand?

• USDC circulation stood at $73.9 billion at quarter-end, flat year over year; Circle puts its dollar stablecoin market share at 27%.
• Operating expenses rose 16% to $245 million, driven by administrative, depreciation, IT and marketing spending.
• Distribution costs paid to partners such as Coinbase fell 8% to $409 million.

Circle is expanding while cutting staff. Arc's public mainnet launched Sept. 16 with more than 100 institutional builders, with BlackRock, DTCC and Visa among its permissioned validators. The company also agreed to acquire Tazapay, a Singapore-based cross-border payments platform handling more than $25 billion in annualized volume; the deal is expected to close in 2027.

The GENIUS Act takes effect Jan. 18, bringing federal licensing and reserve requirements for stablecoin issuers. Circle says its stablecoins will qualify, but implementing the rules will test whether the company can keep building revenue streams beyond its shrinking reserve income.