Circle spent much of its fiscal 2026 second-quarter earnings call addressing how it pays for USDC distribution, how that model works with Coinbase, and what can actually be inferred from Hyperliquid’s USDC balances.
The company said it has signed distribution agreements with more than 150 companies and has long used economic incentives to support USDC growth, product development built on USDC, and token distribution. It also confirmed that the Hyperliquid arrangement involves three parties — Coinbase, Circle, and Hyperliquid — while stopping short of disclosing the precise revenue-sharing terms tied to that deal.
Circle says incentive-based distribution is already widespread across the USDC network
Asked about channel incentives for USDC, Circle CEO said the company already has a large number of distribution incentive arrangements in place and a large number of partners building across its network. He said there are thousands of companies in that network and that more than 150 have signed distribution partnership agreements with Circle.
According to the CEO, those agreements are designed to use economic incentives to drive USDC growth, product development based on USDC, and distribution of the stablecoin itself. He said Circle has been doing this for a long time and often works with Coinbase on these types of arrangements.
That point matters because it frames distribution incentives as an established operating model rather than a newly invented tactic. The article notes, though, that this does not mean every channel integrating USDC receives the same incentive package, and it does not mean Circle passes all related revenue through to partners. The structure depends on the partner and the use case, with terms designed around channels that can expand USDC growth, development, and distribution in a meaningful way.
Circle says it can work with Coinbase to structure deals for large enterprises
The CEO went on to say that Circle is fully capable of setting up high-quality, mutually beneficial distribution arrangements with large enterprises. Referring to the Hyperliquid example raised on the call, he added that there are other cases as well.
He also said Circle is seeing strong interest from large companies that want to join the USDC network, and that this interest is showing up globally. When Circle believes a company can materially drive USDC growth and adoption, he said, Circle has the ability to build the relevant relationship together with Coinbase.
The article argues that this leaves room for more third-party distribution incentive agreements with major corporate channels. It uses Samsung Wallet as an example of the kind of large entry point that could, if it were to materially boost USDC usage and distribution in the future, become the subject of a jointly designed arrangement between Circle and Coinbase.
It also notes that Circle and Coinbase are not necessarily on opposite sides when it comes to these partnerships. For third-party channels that can expand the overall USDC base, both companies have an incentive to grow the market first and then divide the economics under their existing framework.
Under the Circle-Coinbase sharing arrangement described in the article, USDC held outside the two companies’ own platforms generates what is called “ecosystem economic benefit” after deducting third-party ecosystem incentives approved by both sides. The remaining amount is then split 50/50 between Circle and Coinbase. In practice, that means incentives granted to major third-party channels do not automatically fall on Circle alone; both parties can participate in the arrangement.
Hyperliquid question drew a partial answer, not a full breakdown of economics
During the call, Autonomous analyst Ken Suchoski asked whether, if 90% of the interest income from USDC on Hyperliquid goes to Hyperliquid, the remaining 10% is split evenly between Circle and Coinbase.
Circle’s CFO did not confirm that interpretation. Instead, she said the Hyperliquid arrangement includes Coinbase, Circle, and Hyperliquid, and that on-chain data can show where the funds on the Hyperliquid platform are located and whether those balances are attributed to Circle’s platform or Coinbase’s platform.
As of quarter-end, she said, roughly 90% of Hyperliquid’s total USDC was on Coinbase’s platform and roughly 10% was on Circle’s platform. She added that Circle would not comment further on the precise details of the arrangement between Circle and Coinbase.
That answer confirmed participation by all three parties but left the actual economics undisclosed. The article stresses that two separate 90%/10% figures are being discussed. The analyst’s 90% referred to Hyperliquid’s share of interest income, while the CFO’s 90%/10% referred to where Hyperliquid’s USDC balances are attributed between Coinbase and Circle. Those are not the same thing, and the attribution ratio should not be read as the final revenue split among the parties.
On-chain balances appear to reflect the 9:1 attribution structure
The CFO said the location of the USDC on Hyperliquid and its attribution between Circle and Coinbase can be observed on-chain. The article points to two HyperEVM addresses that correspond to that structure.
According to the article, the USDC balance attributed to Coinbase’s platform stands at $4.952 billion and corresponds to the Coinbase Treasury Deployer address on HyperEVM. The balance attributed to Circle’s platform stands at $550 million and corresponds to the Circle CoreDepositWallet address on HyperEVM.
The article says the AQAv2 system actively maintains those two addresses at roughly 90% and 10% of the total, with system transactions rebalancing the balances so they remain close to a 1:9 ratio.
It gives the following formula for observing the total:
Hyperliquid AQAv2 USDC ≈ Circle CoreDepositWallet balance + Coinbase Treasury Deployer balance
Based on the balances in those two addresses, the on-chain ratio broadly matches what Circle’s CFO described for quarter-end: about 90% attributed to Coinbase’s platform and about 10% attributed to Circle’s platform.
What is public now is the framework, not the exact split
Taking management’s comments together, the article concludes that third-party channel incentives are a standing part of USDC’s distribution model. Circle says it already has more than 150 such agreements in place and is willing to work with Coinbase to build arrangements for large enterprises that can materially expand USDC growth and adoption.
Hyperliquid offers a live example of how that model can work: a third-party platform expands USDC usage, Circle and Coinbase both take part in the arrangement, and the balances inside that system are attributed between the two platforms in an approximate 90%/10% structure.
What on-chain data can show is where the balances are booked. What it cannot do, based on the information disclosed so far, is reveal the final sharing of revenue among Hyperliquid, Circle, and Coinbase. The broad framework is visible, but the exact commercial terms remain private.
