A：Jeremy outlines a transformation being driven by blockchain, stablecoins, technology acceleration, software power, and artificial intelligence. He suggests that the global economic system is becoming more native, automated, and is on the cusp of seeing tens or hundreds of billions of AI agents interacting and performing economic functions over the Internet.

A：The 'value era of the internet', which combines economic operating systems with an internet-native money layer and artificial intelligence, is expected to drive the greatest acceleration of economic activity in human history, according to Jeremy. This is a result of AI platforms and the internet native money layer coinciding, leading to significant growth in economic activity.

A：Circle's stablecoin network grew with USDC circulation ending at around $75 billion, up 72% year on year. Despite a crypto market correction in Q4, there was tremendous ongoing growth in transactions, with on-chain USDC volume reaching nearly $1 trillion, representing year-on-year growth. Financially, Circle had total revenue and reserve income of $770 million, up 77% year on year, and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 25%.

A：Circle's platform is expanding with the launch of the testnet of Arc, a layer 1 blockchain network, and preparations for the mainnet launch later in the year. New products introduced include stableFX in beta, an On Chain FX app, and X Reserve, which supports the expansion of USDC across various blockchain ecosystems. Circle now supports USDC on over 30 different blockchain networks, emphasizing interoperability in its platform strategy.

A：Circle's stablecoins have achieved several key partnerships and integrations, including Visa's launch of USDC settlement allowing card issuers and acquirers to settle outside of normal banking hours, and Circle's partnership with Poly Market, the largest prediction market, to use USDC for collateral and settlement. These partnerships demonstrate Circle's leading position as a regulated stablecoin network.

A：Circle's stablecoin market share grew from 46% to 50% year on year, maintaining a strong competitive position. Despite efforts from other firms, Circle continues to hold a significant market share due to durable network effects that create significant barriers to entry and adoption.

A：Circle's share of transaction volume grew from 39% in the third quarter to 50% in the fourth quarter, reflecting a significant increase in on-chain transaction volume. Notably, the growth in transaction volume was organically driven, with CTP growing 3.5x year over year to over 1.6 billion of volume in the fourth quarter.

A：Circle's competitive advantage stems from trust as an audited public company with a commitment to compliance, liquidity infrastructure that supports large-scale minting and redemption volume, and a diverse range of services and products, including digital assets and stablecoins. The company's neutral market stance, not competing with customers and partners, and the accessibility and usability of its technology contribute to its competitive success.

A：Circle's platform has evolved from a stablecoin network to a comprehensive platform and infrastructure partner for on-chain finance, with new pillars like Arc for developers, digital assets and services, and infrastructure. Planned developments include the launch of mainnet for Arc in 2026, continuing to expand the breadth of liquidity services and digital assets, and further technological advancements and partnerships.

A：CCTP has experienced significant growth, with nearly all transactions involving USDC moving across blockchains and reaching over 50% of all bridged volume of all assets across chains. In January, the volume reached an all-time high. CTPP is becoming a critical infrastructure for internet value transfer.

A：Circle's other digital assets have shown strong growth, with URC reaching €389 million, representing 3.8x year-on-year growth. The tokenized money market fund, UYC, has also grown strongly since the acquisition of USY C and has continued to see accelerating growth in its collateral demand on leading exchanges.

A：Circle's payments network, Circle Pay, has seen an increase in the number of enrolled financial institutions to 55 from 29 in the third quarter, with 74 currently in eligibility reviews. The network is available in 14 markets across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, with a 68% growth in annualized volume in the trailing 30-day period as of February 20.

A：The launch of 'stableFX' and 'production beta' is significant as it combines institutional-grade FX execution with on-chain atomic settlement, providing a platform for efficient currency conversion and risk management. This is expected to benefit the entire digital asset ecosystem and support the scaling of CTPP.

A：Circle is seeing an explosion of developer activity around AI, with new initiatives such as Open CLA and AI support for Geni payments. AI is becoming foundational infrastructure across all of Circle's functions, with investments in AI infrastructure and automation becoming a critical component embedded in all operations. This is expected to accelerate product velocity and integrate AI into the company's product development life cycle.

A：For the fourth quarter and full fiscal year, USDC in circulation grew by 72%, reserve return rate was 4.6% for the quarter, and total revenue and reserve income increased 77% year on year to $770 million. Despite an increase in distribution costs due to one-time payments, revenue less distribution cost margin grew to 40.1%, with other revenue reaching $37 million. Adjusted operating expenses grew 32% year on year to $133 million. Adjusted EBITDA grew 412% year on year to $167 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 54%.

A：The projected adjusted operating expenses for FY 26 are between $570 and $585 million. They will exclude payroll tax expense related to stock-based compensation and certain one-time legal expenses, acquisition-related costs, and where relevant, restructuring expenses, totaling $30.6 million from FY 25.

A：Circle is planning to integrate with the developing ecosystem of AI agents and blockchain by participating in key standards for generative payments and value movement, such as the X 4 0 2 standard and the AIC payment standard from Google. Circle is also part of the AI Agent Consortium and is seeing a direct and immediate pickup in the use of USDC for agent-to-agent transactions due to its reliability, low cost, and trustworthiness.

A：The recent developments in AI agent activity and USDC usage signify a turning point and a clear indicator of takeoff, as AI agents are realizing the need for a reliable, low-cost, trusted medium of exchange. This has led to the creation of AI job boards and marketplaces where AI agents can hire human workers or each other and conduct tasks, with USDC being the preferred medium of exchange.

A：Arc is purpose-built for the anticipated economic activity, designed with a validation and consensus model that supports scale, offering transaction costs at one-thousandth of a penny in high-performance channels. It includes features like Circle Gateway, which allows autonomous agents to hold a balance and spend not only on Arc but on other networks, with transactions moving in less than a second. Arc is being built at the operating system level, with infrastructure, tooling, and marketing aimed at engaging autonomous agents to build on the platform.

A：The exploration of the Arc token is ongoing, with a strong understanding of how a token can incentivize stakeholders, provide governance, security, and utility on the Arc network. There is no specific timeline for launching the token due to ongoing exploration, but there is significant progress with Arc towards mainnet deployment, and the company is excited about this upcoming development. There is also anticipation for participation from various companies in running the Arc infrastructure and providing foundational support to asset issuers and AI agents.

A：The progress regarding regulatory clarity for stablecoins has been positive, with institutions such as the SEC and the CFCC clarifying the use of stablecoins as collateral in the CFPC market and recent guidance on haircut treatment for broker-dealers. This indicates that stablecoins are being integrated into capital markets. Additionally, banks, payments companies, tech firms, and large enterprises are leaning in to incorporate stablecoins into their product strategies. The Clarity Act is very close to finalization, and there is cautious optimism that it will significantly unlock the development of the market and the use of blockchains in a broader range of applications.

A：The vision for AHRQ and CTP is to create an asset agnostic or broad asset tokenization platform that ensures the assurance of equity for various assets.

A：The speaker describes the evolution of Arc as a distributed economic operating system managed by leading financial infrastructure companies. It is designed for prudentially sound financial and economic activity and aims to provide a secure foundation with the best, most capital efficient liquidity for digital dollars.

A：Arc acts as a liquidity and distribution hub for asset issuers, enabling the issuance of various tokenized assets and providing a way for these assets to be issued on Arc and distributed across other blockchain networks.

A：The speaker describes the relationship between AI-driven economies and blockchain infrastructure as synergistic, suggesting that blockchain will be essential for AI agents to enter into contracts, manage disputes, and execute transactions, and is seeing developer activity and interest in this convergence.

A：Circle has seen strong growth in financial institutions joining the network, with 55 being onboarded and a continuous increase in the number of interested participants. Flows have grown to an annualized value of about $5.7 billion, up 68% from the previous measurement. The flows are mainly driven by B2B cross-border merchant settlement, with notable south-to-south and north-to-south remittance applications.

A：Anticipated use cases for the stablecoin network include B2B cross-border merchant settlement and various remittance applications. The impact of AI agents is expected to drive the utility of the stablecoin network, increase transaction volume, and accelerate interactions with non-crypto native businesses in the new digital economy.

A：The partnership with Poly Market is anticipated to be beneficial for the adoption of the stablecoin network, especially in the fast-growing prediction market segment. USDC plays a critical role in this segment, and the partnership is expected to contribute to the growth and utility of the stablecoin network in the coming quarters and years.

A：USDC is systemic and critical to many on-chain applications built over the past 3-5 years, including Poly Market. It enables users to provide collateral and settlement at the speed of the internet from various wallets worldwide, opening up global access and enhancing the seamless experience for participants in prediction markets.

A：The infrastructure and technology support the essence of markets, especially information markets, allowing users to move quickly through markets. By providing a stable and seamless experience, it enables firms like Poly Market to improve their offerings and experience for their customers.

A：The partnership between Coinbase and Circle is significant because it combines leading digital currencies to support prediction markets. Coinbase's adoption of Circle's digital dollars is viewed as a positive development, likely to increase the use of digital dollars for settlement and collateral across various platforms.

A：The factors contributing to the 5x growth in the Circle platform's USTC include the focus on building valuable infrastructure products for USDC, such as Circle Gateway and Circle Mint, and the intention to partner with major institutions in various sectors. These partnerships will drive more applications, money flow, and usage of Circle technologies, leading to increased USDC.

A：The potential drivers of incremental on-platform USDC over the next few months include the expansion of institutional partnerships, continuing to build great infrastructure for developers to utilize, and the expected growth from major financial and non-financial institutions choosing to build on Circle's platform.

A：The significance of Circle's National Trust Bank is that it is the first national digital currency bank and can strengthen the custody infrastructure for digital currencies. It will provide a fiduciary and security apparatus with operational safeguards, contributing to the on-platform capabilities by offering a robust infrastructure for digital currency management and trust services.

A：The rollout plan post-mainnet launch for the Arc network infrastructure includes ensuring that key technologies are available to all users before transitioning to mainnet, closely working with the entire digital asset ecosystem to prepare infrastructure, and integrating Circle's existing product stack for seamless liquidity and efficiency. This strategy is aimed at providing the best possible experience and reliability for all participants.

A：The key components of the AHRQ (Ares Riverbank) infrastructure include speed, reliability, prudential safety, and soundness efficiency, providing a stable foundation for the Arc network. AHRQ will facilitate conversions between different networks, improve the settlement process, and simplify interactions by allowing members on the network to easily interact with wallets on different networks. Additionally, AHRQ will support real-time, atomically swapped liquidity across currencies, enhancing the overall efficiency and reliability of the Arc ecosystem.

A：Circle is in a strong position due to the strength of its network effects, with USDC being a compliant, liquid, interoperable digital dollar. Growth in USDC through distribution partners, some of which are incentivized, also strengthens the underlying network effects around USDC. Circle is disciplined about forming incentive relationships and looks for where there is growth and meaningful growth potential.

A：Being on over 30 blockchain networks is important for Circle because developers build applications on various platforms, and having a presence on these networks allows for the support of USDC across different ecosystems and future potential scaling that AI might demand.

A：Circle has co-edited and participated in almost all key payment standards like X402 and ERC 8004. They are leveraging their first-mover advantage by being involved in these standards, and ensuring seamless integration of their APIs and protocols for AI developer tools. Circle's platform is seen as attractive for high-throughput, cost-efficient transactions due to its USDC-centric capabilities, capital efficiency, interoperability, and the cost efficiency of transactions.

A：Circle has conducted a hackathon for AI agents to educate them about USDC. This event allowed AI agents to compete and vote on things using USDC, serving as a powerful marketing activity to familiarize AI agents with the stablecoin.