Circle published a lengthy post tonight Beijing time defending how $USDC ’s revenue is split, directly hitting back at recent claims from new stablecoin issuers that “issuers take too much, and redemptions are too expensive.”
USDC is a dollar stablecoin issued by Circle. Its price is pegged to the dollar, and exchanges, wallets, and payment companies all use it as an on-chain dollar.
The post came from Circle’s chief business officer, who laid out the figures for the first half of this year: about $820 million went to distribution partners and transaction costs—more than half of the company’s revenue.
The post was also very direct about redemptions: customers pay nothing to redeem through regular banking channels, and redemptions through Circle’s own payment network can arrive almost instantly.
The dispute is heating up because stablecoins mainly make money from interest on their reserves. The more an issuer shares with distribution partners, the more willing exchanges and wallets are to promote its stablecoin. New issuers are pitching the message: “Most of the yield goes to you.”
Circle’s response is that if it gives everything away, it won’t have the money to maintain licenses, banking relationships, or the pool of cash needed to let people redeem at any time. Without those things, it says, a stablecoin is just a token—not a digital dollar.
Last month, Binance signed a multiyear commercial partnership with Circle and invested in the company, so how this money is split is directly tied to the exchange’s own business, too.
USDC is a dollar stablecoin issued by Circle. Its price is pegged to the dollar, and exchanges, wallets, and payment companies all use it as an on-chain dollar.
The post came from Circle’s chief business officer, who laid out the figures for the first half of this year: about $820 million went to distribution partners and transaction costs—more than half of the company’s revenue.
The post was also very direct about redemptions: customers pay nothing to redeem through regular banking channels, and redemptions through Circle’s own payment network can arrive almost instantly.
The dispute is heating up because stablecoins mainly make money from interest on their reserves. The more an issuer shares with distribution partners, the more willing exchanges and wallets are to promote its stablecoin. New issuers are pitching the message: “Most of the yield goes to you.”
Circle’s response is that if it gives everything away, it won’t have the money to maintain licenses, banking relationships, or the pool of cash needed to let people redeem at any time. Without those things, it says, a stablecoin is just a token—not a digital dollar.
Last month, Binance signed a multiyear commercial partnership with Circle and invested in the company, so how this money is split is directly tied to the exchange’s own business, too.