v3.26.1
Redeemable convertible preferred stock
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Equity [Abstract]  
Redeemable convertible preferred stock
15. Stockholders’ equity
Common Stock
In June 2025, the Company completed its IPO, in which the Company issued and sold 19.9 million shares of its Class A common stock, including the underwriters’ over-allotment option which was exercised in full, at a public offering price of $31.00 per share.
In August 2025, the Company completed a follow-on public offering of its Class A common stock, in which the Company issued and sold 3.5 million shares of its Class A common stock, including the underwriters’ over-allotment option which was exercised in full, at a public offering price of $130.00 per share.
The Charter authorizes a total of 2.5 billion shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share, 500.0 million shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share, 500.0 million shares of Class C common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share and 500.0 million shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. In connection with the IPO, all shares of our outstanding redeemable convertible preferred stock automatically converted into a total of 139.8 million shares of our Class A common stock, and a total of 19.6 million shares of Class A common stock held by our co-founders and certain entities controlled by our co-founders were converted into an equivalent number of shares of Class B common stock. As a result, following the completion of the IPO, we have three classes of authorized common stock: Class A common stock, Class B common stock, and Class C common stock, of which only Class A common stock and Class B common stock were outstanding as of March 31, 2026.
Class B common stock is convertible into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis at the option of the holder. In addition, Class B common stock will automatically convert into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis upon any transfer, except for permitted transfers described in our Charter, and in certain other circumstances. Class C common stock is convertible into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis in connection with certain assignments and transfers.
The holders of Circle’s Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock held. The holders of Circle’s Class B common stock are entitled to five votes for each share of common stock held (but the aggregate voting power of Class B common stock cannot exceed 30% of the total voting power of our capital stock). The holders of Circle’s Class C common stock are not entitled to vote except to the extent set forth in our Charter or as required by applicable law. The voting, dividend and liquidation rights of the holders of our common stock are subject to and qualified by the rights, powers, and preferences of the holders of the Preferred Stock as detailed in the Charter.
Stock Plans
As of March 31, 2026, there were 27.2 million shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock subject to issued and outstanding stock options and RSUs under the stock award plans, and 1.2 million shares of Class A common stock issuable in connection with business combinations. In addition, under the stock award plans and the ESPP, there were 37.0 million shares and 8.1 million shares, respectively, of Class A common stock available for future issuance.
Warrants
In April 2023, the Company entered into an agreement with a commercial counterparty to grant warrants to purchase up to 4.5 million common shares of a consolidated subsidiary that will be automatically converted one-for-one into shares of Class A common stock upon exercise. The warrants have an exercise price of $42.14 per share and an exercise period of ten years from the grant date. The warrants are subject to certain service conditions to be achieved over a two-year period and performance conditions to be achieved over a five-year period. The fair value of the warrants, approximately $80.1 million, was measured at the time of issuance using the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following assumptions: the Company’s estimated common share price on the grant date, a term of ten years, a dividend yield of zero, volatility of 44%, and a risk-free rate of 3.45%. The warrants will be expensed as the service conditions are achieved or over the requisite service period if and when the achievement of the performance conditions are probable. There were no marketing expenses or distribution and transaction costs related to the warrants for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025. As of March 31, 2026, 3.4 million of these warrants have expired, and none of the common shares associated with the remaining warrants have been exercised or forfeited.
In August 2023, the Company entered into an agreement with a digital asset exchange to grant warrants to purchase up to 3.6 million common shares of a consolidated subsidiary that will be automatically converted one-for-one into shares of Class A common stock upon exercise. The warrants have an exercise price of $25.09 per share. They expire five years from the grant date and the vesting of the warrants is subject to a performance condition. The fair value of the warrants, approximately $43.9 million, was measured at the time of issuance using the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following assumptions: the Company’s estimated common share price on the grant date, a term of five years, a dividend yield of zero, volatility of 51%, and a risk-free rate of 4.38%. The warrants will be expensed over the requisite service period if and when the achievement of the performance condition is probable. There were no marketing expenses or distribution and transaction costs related to the warrants for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025. As of March 31, 2026, the performance condition had not been met, and none of the common shares associated with these warrants have been exercised, forfeited, or expired.
In December 2024, the Company entered into an agreement with a commercial counterparty which included the issuance of warrants to purchase up to approximately 2.9 million shares of Class A common stock. The warrants vest based upon the achievement of certain performance conditions to be achieved within a three-year period for the benefit of the Company. The warrants have an exercise price of $22.71 per share and an exercise period of six years from the grant date. The fair value of the warrants, approximately $56.1 million, was measured at the time of issuance using the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following assumptions: the Company’s estimated common share price on the grant date, a term of six years, a dividend yield of zero, volatility of 53%, and a risk-free rate of 4.43%. The warrants are expensed as the service conditions are achieved or over the requisite service period if and when the achievement of the performance conditions are probable. There was $4.7 million and $1.1 million in distribution and transaction costs related to the warrants for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively. As of March 31, 2026, 1.0 million of these warrants have vested, and the counterparty elected to exercise 0.7 million of the warrants during the three months ended March 31, 2026 resulting in the net issuance of approximately 0.5 million shares of Class A common stock. As of March 31, 2026, none of the common shares associated with these warrants have been forfeited or expired.
Donations to Circle Foundation
In March 2025, the Company’s board of directors approved the reservation of up to 2,682,392 shares of Class A common stock, which represented approximately 1% of our capital stock on the date it was approved by our board of directors. The shares may be issued to or for the benefit of the Circle Foundation, a donor-advised fund, in installments over 10 years.
In March 2026, the Company re-issued 67,060 shares of Treasury stock reserved for the benefit of the Circle Foundation. As a result of this equity contribution, the Company recorded a charge of $7.7 million to General and administrative expenses within the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2026.
16. Redeemable convertible preferred stock
In connection with the IPO, all outstanding shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock were converted into shares of our Class A common stock on a one-to-one basis and their carrying value of $1.1 billion was reclassified into stockholders’ equity. As such, there were no shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock issued and outstanding following the completion of the Company's IPO in June 2025.
Following is a presentation of the key characteristics and shares for each class of the Company’s preferred stock as of March 31, 2025.
Table 16.1. Details of Preferred Stocks
Preferred stock classIssue DateIssue priceConversion priceLiquidation preference
Shares issued
(in thousands)
Series A8/22/2013$0.27 $0.27 $0.27 33,621
Series B2/26/2014$0.97 $0.97 $0.97 17,586
Series C4/10/2015$2.17 $2.17 $2.17 18,445
Series D5/17/2016$2.76 $2.76 $2.76 23,203
Series EVarious$16.23 $16.23 $16.23 37,436
Series F5/9/2022$42.14 $42.14 $42.14 9,516