Circle Reduces Staff After ARC Presale Boosts Quarterly Revenue

Circle, the issuer of USDC, reduced its workforce by approximately 5%, according to Unchained and Decrypt. The company disclosed the change in connection with its third-quarter results and recorded $9.1 million in restructuring costs, Decrypt reported. Unchained noted that Circle did not specify the number of employees affected, so the disclosure provides a percentage but no absolute job-loss figure. Circle's third-quarter revenue rose 17% to $865 million, with the increase attributed in Unchained's summary to the ARC token presale. That combination of stronger reported revenue and workforce reductions forms the central tension in the announcement: the token-related activity supported the quarter while the issuer also moved to lower its operating footprint. Reserve income, a separate measure highlighted by Decrypt, fell 8% during the period. The two reports corroborate the approximately 5% workforce cut and both place the announcement within Circle's quarterly earnings disclosure. Their additional focus differs: Unchained centered the undisclosed employee count and the contribution of the ARC presale to revenue, while Decrypt provided the $9.1 million restructuring charge and the decline in reserve income. No figure reported by the two outlets directly conflicts with the other, and the independent figure cross-check confirms the 5% reduction. Circle's role as a major USDC issuer gives the corporate development relevance beyond the company itself. DeFiLlama reports that USDC's circulating supply is $70.84 billion, indicating the scale of the stablecoin whose operations support a large share of on-chain settlement and liquidity. The labor reduction may therefore be viewed alongside the issuer's broader financial position, particularly as ARC-related activity and reserve income move in different directions. Live market data show USDC trading at $0.999517, up 0.01% over both 24 hours and seven days, with a reported market capitalization of $70.56 billion. The broader crypto market was broadly higher, with Bitcoin up 2.80% over 24 hours and total market capitalization at $2.73 trillion, although the Fear & Greed index remained at 34, indicating a Fear reading. The developments to watch are any additional disclosure of Circle's workforce count and whether future quarterly figures sustain the revenue benefit associated with the ARC token presale.