Circle Internet Group (CRCL) NSO Exercise Calculator
Calculator · free · no signup · CRCLPlan your Circle Internet Group NSO exercise (federal, state, FICA) and compare sell-vs-hold for long-term capital gains.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Your grant
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1
$199,080
Sell + invest wins by $20,783 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Bargain element (sale − strike) | $350,000 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$5,075 |
| Additional Medicare | −$3,150 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $18,573 |
| LTCG on diversified gain (fed + state + NIIT) | −$5,219 |
| Net at year 1 | $199,080 |
Sell every share immediately; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Exercise + hold 1 yr
| Sale proceeds (year 1) | |
| LTCG tax (federal + state + NIIT) | $0 |
| Net at year 1 | $178,297 |
Sold 2,678 shares at exercise to cover strike + tax; 2,322 shares held 1 yr for LTCG.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're exercising as a current employee.
Both columns are stated in year-1 dollars: sell-now proceeds compound at the market return and pay LTCG on the gain at year 1; any cash paid out of pocket on the hold side carries the same opportunity cost.
Net at year N — by hold period
Estimates only. Excludes AMT (NSOs do not trigger AMT), state-AMT, multi-state moves, and disqualifying-disposition edge cases. Not financial advice.
You calculated one NSO decision. The beta plans NSOs alongside RSUs and ISOs in a single multi-year tax plan.
Request beta access →About Circle Internet Group
Circle Internet Group (CRCL) is a public Fintech company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York, NY. IPO'd Jun 4, 2025.
Last close: $79.72 per share (as of 2026-06-17).
Stablecoin issuer.
Equity grants at Circle Internet Group typically include incentive stock options (ISOs), non-qualified stock options (NSOs), and restricted stock units (RSUs).
Circle Internet Group, Inc. is a payments technology company. Founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in 2013, it is currently headquartered in New York City and issues two types of stablecoin: USDC, which has a conversion rate pegged to the U.S. dollar, and EURC, which is euro-denominated. It also issues USYC, a tokenized money market fund.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville founded Circle in October 2013, building it into the issuer of USDC, a dollar-backed stablecoin fully reserved with cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries. The company relocated its headquarters from Boston to 1 World Trade Center in New York City in 2024. Circle listed on the NYSE under ticker CRCL on June 5, 2025, pricing its IPO at $31 per share and closing the first session up 168 percent. As of Q1 2025, roughly $60 billion of USDC was in circulation across 4.9 million wallets.
Sources: cnbc.com · bostonglobe.com · investor.circle.com
Equity comp at Circle Internet Group
- RSUs use single-trigger vesting: shares become yours as each portion vests on schedule, and the value is taxed as ordinary income at that point. No IPO or acquisition is required.
Researched 2026-05-07.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Circle Internet Group.
Use this calculator to estimate your Circle Internet Group (CRCL) NSO exercise tax (federal, state, FICA), then compare selling now versus holding through the long-term capital gains threshold. Inputs are yours: grant terms, current price, your income, your state.
Example: at Circle Internet Group (CRCL)'s last close of $79.72, exercising 5,000 NSOs with a $23.92 strike creates a $279,000 bargain element, taxed as ordinary income on the day you exercise. Combined federal + state + FICA on that bargain typically lands between $75,330 and $125,550 depending on your bracket and state. The calculator above computes the exact figure for your situation and compares selling now vs. holding through the long-term capital-gains threshold.
All Circle Internet Group tools → · Use the generic NSO Exercise Calculator for any company.
Circle Internet Group equity questions
- How is a Circle Internet Group NSO exercise taxed?
- Exercising a non-qualified stock option (NSO) creates ordinary income on the bargain element (the price on the day you exercise minus your strike), subject to federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA. The calculator above computes that tax for your Circle Internet Group grant and compares selling the shares now against holding past the one-year mark for long-term capital-gains treatment.
- Does Circle Internet Group grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Circle Internet Group typically takes the form of incentive stock options (ISOs), non-qualified stock options (NSOs), and restricted stock units (RSUs). Incentive stock options can trigger the alternative minimum tax (AMT) when you exercise. Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- When did the Circle Internet Group IPO lockup expire?
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL) went public on June 4, 2025. The standard post-IPO lockup runs 180 days, so employee and insider shares generally became sellable around December 1, 2025. Confirm against your own grant paperwork, since some lockups release early or in stages.
- Do Circle Internet Group RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- No. Circle Internet Group restricted stock units (RSUs) use single-trigger vesting: each tranche becomes yours as it vests on schedule, taxed as ordinary income at that point, with no liquidity event required.
One piece of the puzzle.
OptionsAhoy plans your Circle Internet Group equity alongside hedging, vesting, and de-concentration, across bullish, neutral, and bearish market scenarios. Free during beta.