Circle’s $461M payout shows who captures USDC yield — and it’s not Circle

Circle's fourth quarter earnings tell a story the company would prefer investors understand through the lens of growth: USDC circulation climbed 72% year-over-year to $75.3 billion, reserve income surged 69%, and adjusted EBITDA quintupled. However, the income statement reveals a different architecture in which the issuer generates yield and immediately bargains most of it away to the platforms that control access to users. The scoreboard is stark. Circle earned $733.4 million in reserve income during the quarter. Distribution and transaction costs consumed $460.6 million of that , roughly 63 cents of every dollar earned from investing customer deposits. Total revenue and reserve income reached $770.2 million, with distribution costs accounting for nearly 60% of all earnings flowing through the business. Circle kept what remained after paying the gatekeepers. This isn't a disclosure buried in footnotes. Circle elevates “Revenue Less Distribution Costs” as a core performance metric, publishing RLDC margins alongside earnings and net income every quarter. The company is telling investors: the yield exists, but capturing it requires paying for shelf space. The stablecoin business is structured as a negotiation between issuers and the exchanges, wallets, and fintech rails that control where the balances actually sit. Circle's Q4 2025 waterfall chart shows $733.4 million reserve income reduced by $460.6 million in distribution costs, leaving the issuer with $272.8 million net reserve income. The yield pie and who gets it Stablecoins generate income through a straight