Circle’s $461M payout shows who captures USDC yield — and it’s not Circle

Circle’s fourth quarter earnings tell a story the company would prefer investors understand through the lens of growth: USDC circulation climbed 72% year-over-year to $75.3 billion, reserve income surged 69%, and adjusted EBITDA quintupled. However, the income statement reveals a different architecture in which the issuer generates yield and immediately bargains most of it away to the platforms that control access to…