Circle CEO Backs Binance Despite $6.3 Billion Hack: ‘Remains an Extraordinarily Powerful Platform’ With 'Incredibly Strong' Reach

Circle Internet Group Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) CEO Jeremy Allaire on Wednesday defended Binance (CRYPTO: BNB) after its $6.3 billion hack, saying the cryptocurrency exchange remains a strategically important partner.

‘Tremendous Opportunity’

During the company’s third-quarter earnings call, Allaire addressed Circle’s expanded partnership with Binance, which involves a $100 million equity investment from the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform.

As part of the deal, Binance will promote and integrate USDC (CRYPTO: USDC) across its platform, while Circle will support the stablecoin through its Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure.

“I think having a platform with several hundred million people in the most important, critical markets, putting USDC front and center is a tremendous opportunity for us,” he added. “And so we’re very excited about what that can be and how that will develop and transpire.”

Binance Heist ‘Huge,’ but Exchange Remains ‘Incredibly Strong’

When asked whether Binance’s security breach, which resulted in losses exceeding $6 billion, would affect the partnership, Allaire acknowledged that it’s a “huge” figure.

“I think Binance remains an extraordinarily powerful platform. Their liquidity, distribution, and reach remain incredibly strong,” Allaire said.

Circle confirmed freezing more than $800 million in USDC, one of the biggest casualties of the heist.

Binance faced heavy withdrawal pressure following the incident. The exchange recorded more than $10 billion in net outflows over the past week, though it saw $774 million in net inflows in the last 24 hours, according to DeFiLlama.

“I do think that global regulators are absolutely going to continue to put further scrutiny on cyber, on security infrastructure,” Allaire stated.

Circle’s Reserve Income Falls

Circle’s latest results also highlighted the financial importance of USDC adoption. Third-quarter revenue reached $864.888 million, up 17% year over year and beating the consensus estimate of $778.121 million.

Reserve income, interest earned on assets backing USDC, declined 8% to $658 million, though average USDC circulation jumped 8%.

The company’s results included a $9.1 million restructuring charge tied to a workforce reduction of about 5%

Price Action: Circle shares fell 0.14% in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro. The stock closed 1.17% higher at $76.12 during Wednesday’s regular trading session.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings show Circle Stock’s Momentum ranking in the 14th percentile and its Value ranking in the 40th percentile.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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