Author: @lufeieth
Editor: Wu Blockchain
TL;DR
- Circle has signed USDC distribution cooperation agreements with over 150 companies, driving USDC growth, product development, and distribution through economic incentives. For large enterprises that can substantially expand USDC usage, Circle can also design cooperation arrangements jointly with Coinbase.
- According to the revenue-sharing arrangement between Circle and Coinbase, for USDC outside both platforms, after deducting third-party ecosystem incentives approved by both parties, the remaining "ecosystem economic benefits" are split 50/50 between Circle and Coinbase.
- The Hyperliquid cooperation arrangement involves three parties: Coinbase, Circle, and Hyperliquid. As of the end of the quarter, approximately 90% of Hyperliquid's USDC holdings were on the Coinbase platform, and approximately 10% were on the Circle platform; the corresponding on-chain balances are $4.952 billion and $550 million, respectively.
- The above 90%/10% refers to the attribution ratio of USDC funds being counted on the Coinbase and Circle platforms, and does not equal the final revenue distribution ratio among the three parties. Circle has not disclosed the precise terms of the Hyperliquid cooperation and its revenue sharing with Coinbase.
On Circle's (CRCL) Q2 2026 earnings call, management focused on responding to questions about USDC distribution channel incentives, the cooperation mechanism between Circle and Coinbase, and the distribution of USDC earnings within the Hyperliquid platform.
Circle's CEO stated that the company has long used economic incentives to drive partners to distribute USDC and develop products around USDC. For large enterprises that can substantially drive USDC growth, Circle also has the capability to design corresponding cooperation arrangements jointly with Coinbase.
However, Circle did not disclose the precise revenue distribution terms of the Hyperliquid cooperation. What can be confirmed from this call is that Coinbase, Circle, and Hyperliquid all participated in this cooperation; as of the end of the quarter, approximately 90% of Hyperliquid's USDC holdings were on the Coinbase platform, and approximately 10% were on the Circle platform. This fund attribution can also be observed through on-chain addresses.
Circle has signed USDC distribution cooperation agreements with over 150 companies
Regarding USDC channel incentive mechanisms, Circle's CEO said:
"We currently have a large number of distribution incentive arrangements, and we also have a large number of partners building on our network.
In fact, there are thousands of companies in our network. We have signed distribution cooperation agreements with over 150 companies, driving USDC growth, developing products based on USDC, and distributing USDC through economic incentives.
We have been doing this for a long time. In fact, we often carry out such cooperation jointly with Coinbase."
In other words, using economic incentives to drive channel distribution of stablecoins is not a new idea that Circle came up with only after facing OUSD. Circle has long adopted a similar model and has signed distribution cooperation agreements with over 150 companies.
But this does not mean that all channels integrated with USDC can receive the same incentives, nor does it mean that Circle will distribute all related revenue to partners. Circle will select core channels that can drive USDC growth, development, and distribution, and then design distribution incentives based on the specific cooperation object and usage scenario. The actual revenue-sharing ratio will also vary depending on the specific cooperation.
Circle and Coinbase are willing to jointly introduce large distribution channels
Circle's CEO further stated on the call:
"We are fully capable of establishing very high-quality, mutually beneficial distribution cooperation arrangements with large enterprises. You just mentioned the example of Hyperliquid, and there are other cases as well."
He also mentioned:
"We see strong interest from a large number of large enterprises in joining the USDC network. We see this all over the world.
When we believe that a company can substantially drive the growth and adoption of USDC, we have every opportunity to establish corresponding cooperation arrangements with Coinbase."
This means that Circle may still sign third-party distribution incentive agreements with more large enterprises in the future. Taking large entry points such as Samsung Wallet as an example, if they can significantly drive the usage and distribution of USDC in the future, Circle and Coinbase may jointly design corresponding cooperation mechanisms for this.
The interests of Coinbase and Circle on this issue are not completely opposed. For high-quality third-party channels capable of expanding the scale of USDC, both parties have the incentive to first expand the overall market of USDC, and then distribute the corresponding revenue according to the existing agreement.
According to the revenue-sharing arrangement between Circle and Coinbase, for USDC outside both platforms, after deducting third-party ecosystem incentives approved by both parties, the remaining portion is called "ecosystem economic benefits," which is then split 50/50 between Circle and Coinbase. Therefore, incentives for important third-party channels do not necessarily mean that Circle bears all the costs unilaterally; Circle and Coinbase can jointly participate in related cooperation.
How exactly is Hyperliquid's revenue distributed?
Autonomous analyst Ken Suchoski asked during the conference call:
"On the Hyperliquid platform, 90% of the interest income from USDC goes to Hyperliquid. So for the remaining 10%, do Circle and Coinbase split it 50/50?"
Circle's CFO answered:
"Regarding this cooperation arrangement with Hyperliquid, Coinbase, Circle, and Hyperliquid are all involved.
Through on-chain data, you can accurately see where the funds on the Hyperliquid platform are located, and whether these funds are counted on the Circle platform or the Coinbase platform.
As of the end of the quarter, of the total USDC held by Hyperliquid, approximately 90% was on the Coinbase platform and approximately 10% was on the Circle platform.
As for the specific revenue sharing between Circle and Coinbase, we will not comment further on the precise details of the arrangement between the two parties."
The CFO's answer confirmed that all three parties are involved in the cooperation arrangement with Hyperliquid, but did not directly confirm the specific revenue distribution method proposed by the analyst. The exact split ratio and detailed terms among Hyperliquid, Circle, and Coinbase remain undisclosed commercial arrangements.
Here, it is necessary to distinguish between two different sets of "90%/10%": the "90%" mentioned by the analyst refers to the proportion of interest income received by Hyperliquid; the "90%/10%" mentioned by the CFO refers to the attribution of USDC held by Hyperliquid, with 90% on Coinbase and 10% on Circle. The latter does not equate to the final revenue distribution ratio among the three parties.
How to observe the attribution of Hyperliquid's USDC on-chain?
The CFO mentioned that where the USDC on the Hyperliquid platform is located, and whether the relevant funds are counted on the Circle or Coinbase platform, can be observed through on-chain data.
Currently, the USDC balance attributed to the Coinbase platform is $4.952 billion, corresponding to the Coinbase Treasury Deployer address on HyperEVM.
The USDC balance attributed to the Circle platform is $550 million, corresponding to the Circle CoreDepositWallet address on HyperEVM.
The AQAv2 system actively maintains the USDC balances in the two addresses at approximately 90% and 10%. System transactions continuously rebalance the two addresses to keep them close to a 1:9 ratio.
Therefore, when observing Hyperliquid's total USDC and its attribution between Circle and Coinbase, the following formula can be used:
Hyperliquid AQAv2 USDC ≈ Circle CoreDepositWallet balance + Coinbase Treasury Deployer balance
The balance ratio of the two on-chain addresses is basically consistent with the quarter-end structure disclosed by the CFO in the conference call: approximately 90% attributed to the Coinbase platform and approximately 10% attributed to the Circle platform.
The core of USDC channel incentives is to jointly expand distribution scale
From the response of Circle's management, attracting third-party channels through economic incentives is not a temporary competitive strategy, but part of USDC's long-term distribution mechanism. Circle has signed relevant agreements with more than 150 companies and is willing to design cooperation arrangements with Coinbase for large enterprises that can substantially promote USDC growth.
Hyperliquid demonstrates the actual operation of this model: the third-party platform is responsible for expanding the scale of USDC usage, Circle and Coinbase jointly participate in the cooperation arrangement, and the funds within the platform are respectively attributed to Coinbase and Circle according to a structure of approximately 90% and 10%.
However, on-chain fund attribution can only help outsiders observe which platform USDC is attributed to, and cannot directly infer the final revenue sharing ratio among the three parties. Regarding the specific revenue split among Hyperliquid, Coinbase, and Circle, only the general framework can be determined at this stage, and the precise terms have not been disclosed.
