Circle says Coinbase renewed USDC agreement on existing terms, rules out quarterly payouts

Circle said Coinbase renewed their USDC commercial agreement on existing economic terms, keeping Coinbase as USDC's central distribution partner across retail and institutional platforms under an arrangement that now runs through June 2029. The structure, put in place after the Centre Consortium ended in August 2023, still gives Coinbase a share of reserve income based on where USDC is held. Circle said USDC circulation was $73.3 billion at the end of the second quarter, up 19% from a year earlier, with 30% on Coinbase and 17% on Circle infrastructure, while total revenue and reserve income rose 7% to $701 million. Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Fox-Geen said Circle has no plans for quarterly dividends or routine buybacks, preferring to keep a healthy balance sheet and reinvest in infrastructure, products, payments, regulated services and distribution. Circle also raised its 2026 guidance for revenue outside stablecoin reserve income to $310 million to $330 million from $150 million, though the figure includes recognized revenue from a presale of its planned Arc token. Management said Agent Stack, its platform for AI agents to make and receive payments, already supports more than 900 paid services, with USDC accounting for 99.3% of volume on the x402 machine-payment protocol. Circle argued agent commerce should support balances, payment velocity and broader infrastructure usage over time rather than become an immediate revenue line, while the Coinbase renewal reduces one source of uncertainty as investors focus on distribution economics and competition in tokenized cash products.