• Circle says it paid about $819 million of roughly $1.4 billion in H1 2026 revenue to distribution partners and transaction costs, about 59 cents per dollar.
• Circle reports keeping about 7 cents of net profit per revenue dollar after about $473 million of compliance, liquidity and product costs.
• Open USD and the Global Dollar Network both pass reserve income to participants, which pressures Circle's partner terms.
• Circle argues its free redemption and near-real-time settlement are costs the issuer carries and rivals must also bear.
• The figures come from Circle's own post, not an audited filing, so treat them as the company's account.

Circle is arguing that the cut it pays USDC distribution partners is already generous, just as rival stablecoins offer to share more of the reserve income. In a post dated October 16, 2026, the issuer put first-half 2026 revenue at about $1.4 billion and said most of it went to partners. CoinDesk reported the post on October 17, and Circle shares closed at $82.25, down 5.43%, that day.

Where the $819 million went

Circle says it paid about $819 million of its roughly $1.4 billion first-half 2026 revenue to distribution partners and transaction costs, or about 59 cents per dollar. Another $473 million, by Circle's account, covered licenses, banking relationships, settlement liquidity and compliance, including about $214 million in stock-based compensation and related costs, according to CoinDesk. That leaves about 7 cents of net profit per dollar. These are Circle's own figures from its own post, not an audited filing.

The rivals' counter-offer

Open USD, unveiled in June 2026 and backed by Coinbase, Stripe and BlackRock according to CoinDesk, lets businesses mint and redeem without fees and passes reserve income, less a management fee, to participants. The Paxos-led Global Dollar Network, issuer of USDG, also shares reserve income with participants. Circle's post did not name either rival, which suggests the argument is aimed at partners weighing a larger share against the cost of running redemption and compliance.

What partners should weigh next

The test is whether partners treat Circle's redemption service as worth the cut. Circle says standard redemptions are free and typically settle within two business days, with near-real-time redemption at no cost for Circle Payments Network flows and qualifying platform customers. A rival that undercuts on share but cannot match that liquidity pays for it in settlement lag. Watch partner renewals and any change to reserve-income splits in the next earnings report.

For payments teams, the practical takeaway is to compare issuers on net economics: the share of reserve income passed through, minus what the integrator must fund itself in liquidity, compliance and redemption handling. A headline revenue share alone does not show that.