Circle Internet Group (CRCL) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · CRCLSell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling Circle Internet Group RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Your vest
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr
$47,709
Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.
The hidden purchase
Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of CRCL today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in CRCL. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$1,160 |
| Additional Medicare | −$720 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $4,451 |
| Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT) | −$1,251 |
| Net at year 1 yr | $47,709 |
Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Hold 1 yr
| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Vest tax (federal + state + FICA) | |
| Net at year 1 yr | $42,728 |
Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.
Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.
Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.
You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.
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.
Circle Internet Group (CRCL) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.
Example: 500 Circle Internet Group (CRCL) RSUs vesting at $79.72 per share is $39,860 of ordinary income on vest day. After roughly 32% combined federal + state + FICA (~$12,755), the post-tax share value is ~$27,105. Holding 12 months for long-term capital-gains treatment then only matters for the price change between vest and sale; the ordinary income at vest is already locked in. The calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math.
All Circle Internet Group tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company.
Circle Internet Group equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my Circle Internet Group RSUs at vest?
- Circle Internet Group restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
- 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.
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