How do stablecoin issuers make money?

Stablecoin issuers make money mostly by investing the dollars they receive and keeping the interest. When someone buys a dollar stablecoin from the issuer, the company holds that dollar in reserve, typically in short-term US Treasury bills, repurchase agreements and bank deposits. Those assets pay interest, while the coin itself pays its holder nothing.

How do stablecoins make money for the companies behind them?

Think of it as a float. Every coin in circulation is money the issuer can invest safely until the holder redeems it. With tens or hundreds of billions of dollars outstanding, even modest interest rates produce large sums.

Circle, which issues USDC, shows the model clearly because it is a public company. In the second quarter of 2026 it reported $701 million in total revenue and reserve income, of which $668 million was reserve income. Its average return on reserves was 3.5%. Other revenue, from subscriptions and services, was $34 million. The comparison of USDT and USDC covers what each reserve holds.

Issuers can also charge fees to mint or redeem coins directly. The US GENIUS Act requires licensed issuers to disclose these fees in plain language and give at least seven days' notice before changing them.

How much does Tether make?

Tether, the issuer of USDT, is private but publishes quarterly reports. Decrypt reported that Tether earned about $1.5 billion in net operating profit in the second quarter of 2026, mostly from short-term Treasuries, repo agreements and similar government-backed assets. About $184.6 billion of USDT was in circulation at the end of June 2026. Tether also holds gold and other investments, explained in our guide to Tether Gold.

Where does the money go?

Not all reserve income is profit. Issuers pay partners to list, hold and promote their coins, much as exchanges earn money from many small sources. Circle reported $412 million in distribution, transaction and other costs in the second quarter of 2026, mostly distribution payments. Its 2025 IPO filing, as reported by Decrypt, showed Coinbase receives 50% of a residual share of USDC reserve income, and more when USDC sits on its platform.

Because the model rests on interest, falling rates squeeze income. Circle's reserve return was 66 basis points lower than a year earlier, though more USDC in circulation offset part of that.

Why can stablecoin issuers not pay interest?

The GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, bars permitted payment stablecoin issuers from paying holders any form of interest or yield, whether in cash, tokens or anything else, solely for holding or using the coin. The same law limits reserves to safe, liquid assets such as cash, insured deposits and Treasury bills maturing in 93 days or less, which is why issuer income tracks short-term interest rates so closely.

The ban applies to the issuer. Some distributors offer their own rewards, such as PayPal's program for PayPal USD, and separate products called yield-bearing stablecoins pass income on through other structures. As of October 2026, regulators are still writing detailed rules under the act.