Stablecoin Issuer Circle Cuts 5% Jobs

Stablecoin issuer Circle reported third-quarter revenue jumped 17% to $875 million, reflecting mostly a one-time bump from a token sale. At the same time, the company said it is cutting 5% of staff to align its organizational structure with its “operating model and strategic priorities.”

Net income in the quarter was $226 million, up 5% from a year ago. The revenue growth was driven in part by its presale of ARC tokens, which are tokens that give holders a role in governance of Circle’s newly launched Arc blockchain.

Following Binance’s $6.3 billion hack last week, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, said, “Binance remains an extraordinarily powerful platform. Their liquidity distribution reach remains incredibly strong.” Within an hour of the hack, Circle froze more than $800 million of USDC stablecoins stolen by the hackers. Circle will ensure it can be responsive in emergencies and “stop thieves in their tracks” with coordination with law enforcement, he said in the earnings call.