Circle Trims 5% of Staff as Arc Token Sale Lifts Quarterly Results

Von Coinvote

Veröffentlicht am November 4, 2026 - 15:25 UTC | 5 Minuten Lesezeit

In footnotes to its third-quarter earnings, Circle disclosed a staff reduction of roughly 5% and a $9.1 million restructuring cost. The cuts landed in a quarter where a one-time token presale, not USDC's core reserve income, drove the headline growth.

Circle reveals job cuts in the fine print of its earnings

Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, reduced its headcount by roughly 5% during the third quarter. The company disclosed it in its earnings release on Wednesday. Decrypt and Bitcoin Magazine both report that the disclosure sits in the footnotes to the financial tables, not in the list of business highlights.

Circle said the reduction was "designed to better align our organizational structure with our operating model and strategic priorities." The company gave no headcount and did not identify the teams involved. The Block also reported the roughly 5% figure, and CoinDesk paired the cuts with a headline saying Circle beat earnings expectations.

What the $9.1 million restructuring charge contains

According to Decrypt, most of the $9.1 million in restructuring expenses went to cash paid for notice periods and severance, along with benefits and related costs. A $5.7 million stock-based compensation reversal reduced the net cost, Decrypt said, since departing employees forfeited shares that had not yet vested. Bitcoin Magazine gives the same $9.1 million total and lists pay during notice periods, severance and benefits as what the charge paid for.

Decrypt also noted that chief executive Jeremy Allaire did not mention the cuts in his comments on the results. He also left them out of a post on X calling the quarter "a big quarter for Circle."

The quarter in numbers

The reported figures point in two directions. Headline revenue and profit grew, while the core business that earns interest on USDC reserves shrank.

Total revenue and reserve income rose 17% to $865 million, according to Bitcoin Magazine and Decrypt.
Net income from continuing operations rose 5% to $226 million, a figure CoinDesk also gives in its summary.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 85% to $317 million.
Reserve income fell 8% to $658 million, and Bitcoin Magazine says the return rate on reserves declined by 61 basis points, to 3.5%.
Average USDC in circulation rose 8% to $73.3 billion, while the figure at quarter-end was unchanged from a year earlier at $73.9 billion.
Circle's portion of the fiat-backed stablecoin market fell to 27%, per Bitcoin Magazine.
Other revenue jumped to $207 million from $29 million, including $182 million from the private presale of ARC.
Operating expenses rose 16% to $245 million, while distribution costs fell 8% to $409 million.
Bitcoin Magazine reported that CRCL stock traded about 1.2% lower before the open, at $74.33, following a 4.4% rise on Tuesday.

Growth that leans on a one-time token sale

Reserve income is the interest Circle earns on the Treasuries and cash that back USDC, and Decrypt calls it the company's largest source of revenue. It fell because yields on those reserves declined, and a larger average USDC supply did not make up the difference. Fees paid to distribution partners such as Coinbase fell 8%, which softened the cost side but did not change the direction of the core line.

The ARC presale filled the gap. ARC is the token for Circle's Arc blockchain, and Bitcoin Magazine argues that without the $182 million from the presale, total revenue would have declined. It adds that adjusted EBITDA carries the same one-time boost. Readers comparing Circle's results with earlier periods should check which lines include that item.

How the outlets' accounts differ

The outlets agree on the core facts: roughly 5% of staff, $865 million in the headline revenue line and the $226 million net income figure. They differ in labels and emphasis. Bitcoin Magazine calls $865 million revenue, while Decrypt and The Block describe it as revenue and reserve income. Bitcoin Magazine calls the $226 million net income, while Decrypt and CoinDesk specify continuing operations.

Decrypt stresses that the cuts came in a profitable quarter and places them among other crypto layoffs. Bitcoin Magazine focuses on the weaker core and the cost of building Arc. The Block and CoinDesk are cited here only for what their headlines and summaries state, so details such as the cuts' scope or the earnings beat's size are not confirmed by those two accounts.

Layoffs elsewhere and Circle's expansion

Decrypt describes Circle as the latest of several crypto companies to cut staff this year. Coinbase cut 14% in May, the Ethereum Foundation cut 20% in June, and BitGo cut 15% the same month. In July, Luno reduced its global staff by 20%, and Bitwise cut 14% in August. Decrypt says Coinbase pointed to the crypto downturn and its adoption of AI, Luno cited automation, and BitGo said it was refocusing on AI and stablecoins. Decrypt gives no stated reason in the data for the Ethereum Foundation's reorganization or for the Bitwise cut.

Circle's spending is moving into new areas. Arc's public mainnet launched on Sept. 16, and Decrypt lists BlackRock, DTCC and Visa among its permissioned validators. Circle minted the full 10 billion ARC supply, Bitcoin Magazine reported. It also agreed to buy Singapore payments platform Tazapay, a deal expected to close in 2027. Bitcoin Magazine adds that days before its $6.34 billion hack, Binance invested $100 million in Circle shares and extended its USDC distribution arrangement.

What to watch after the results

According to Bitcoin Magazine, the GENIUS Act takes effect on Jan. 18 and introduces federal licensing and reserve requirements for stablecoin issuers. Allaire said in his post that every layer of Circle's platform is live and ready for it. Bitcoin Magazine says the company has stated its stablecoins will qualify.

Several questions remain open. Circle has not said which teams were affected by the cuts. It is also unclear how much of the ARC presale income can recur, and whether reserve yields keep falling. Bitcoin Magazine poses the open question of whether reduced staffing and a single token-sale gain can carry Circle until interest rates stop declining.

Market snapshot

Asset	Price	24h	7d	Market cap
Bitcoin (BTC)	$80,949	+4.8%	-1.8%	$1.63 trillion
Ethereum (ETH)	$2,440	+6.9%	+1.7%	$298.21 billion

CoinGecko data as of 2026-11-04 (UTC).

FAQ

How many employees did Circle lay off?

Circle said it reduced its workforce by roughly 5% in the third quarter but gave no headcount and named no affected teams. The disclosure appeared in footnotes to its earnings tables, according to Decrypt and Bitcoin Magazine.

How much did the Circle layoffs cost?

According to Decrypt, Circle booked $9.1 million in restructuring expenses, largely for cash paid during notice periods and severance along with benefits. A $5.7 million reversal of stock-based compensation partly offset that cost.

Why did Circle's revenue grow if reserve income fell?

Reserve income fell 8% to $658 million, but other revenue rose to $207 million. That included $182 million from the private presale of the ARC token, which Bitcoin Magazine says masked a softer core business.