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Circle (CRCL) raised $222 million through a pre-sale of Arc, the token tied to its forthcoming blockchain. The company also reported a fully diluted network value of $3 billion. Shares rose more than 4% on Monday following the Arc update and Circle’s first-quarter earnings results.
Andreessen Horowitz led the Arc raise with $75 million. Other participants included BlackRock (BLK), Apollo Funds, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), SBI Group, Janus Henderson Investors (JHG), Standard Chartered Ventures, General Catalyst, Marshall Wace, ARK Invest, IDG Capital, Haun Ventures, and Bullish, the crypto exchange that owns CoinDesk.
This structure makes Circle the first publicly traded company to run a token presale before its blockchain officially launches.
Arc is the native token of the new network. Its initial supply will total 10 billion tokens, with Circle retaining 25% to support validator operations, collect network fees, and potentially earn staking income if Arc usage grows.
The largest allocation—60%—is earmarked for developers, users, and other entities that build on, use, or support the network. The remaining 15% will be placed into a long-term reserve.
Circle posted earnings per share of 21 cents, which was 3 cents above the estimate from analysts surveyed by LSEG. However, revenue came in at $694 million, below the expected $722 million.
Circle’s reserve income rose to $653 million, reflecting a 17% increase from last year. The gain was largely tied to a higher average amount of USDC circulating. USDC circulating volume increased 39%, but the reserves’ ROI fell by 66 basis points.
Additional revenue from subscriptions, transactions, and service fees totaled $21 million, bringing total revenue to $42 million.
Expenses increased as well. Distribution, transaction, and other expenses rose to $407 million, attributed to higher distribution payments. Operating expenses were 76% higher than last year at $242 million, driven by post-IPO stock compensation and related payroll taxes.
Circle’s adjusted operating costs increased 32% to $136 million due to higher product, distribution, and operating investments. Net income declined 15% to $55 million, as revenue gains were not sufficient to offset increased stock-based payment expenses and additional costs. Adjusted EBITDA rose 24% to $151 million, supported by increased USDC supplies.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said blockchain infrastructure is becoming as important as mobile operating systems and cloud platforms. He said Circle aims to build “an operating system” with many stakeholders, adding that large companies would help run infrastructure and participate in governance.
Allaire also described Circle as moving toward being “a broader internet platform company,” entering the operating system business through a token-based, distributed network while also developing apps.
Circle also unveiled Circle Agent Stack, a set of tools intended for developers and AI agents. The stack includes Circle CLI, Agent Wallets, Agent Marketplace, and Nanopayments via Circle Gateway.
Circle CLI provides a command-line interface for developers and AI agents to build with Circle’s wallets, payments, and policy management. Circle said Nanopayments enables USDC transfers without fees down to $0.000001, designed for quick machine-to-machine payments.
Circle Skills adds tools for autonomous software that needs payment rails. Nikhil Chandhok, Circle’s chief product and technology officer, said USDC is “internet-native, programmable, and always available,” adding that the new products combine digital dollars, wallets, service discovery, machine-readable controls, and payment tools built for software.
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