Company: CRCL
Filing Date: 2025-08-12
Form Type: S-1
Source: 0001193125-25-178989
Chunk: 374

Company: Circle Internet Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-08-12
Form: S-1
Chunk 374
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 that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. Critical Audit Matter The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates. Deposits from Stablecoin Holders—Refer to Note 2 to the Financial Statements Critical Audit Matter Description Deposits from stablecoin holders are funds received from customers from the issuance of Circle stablecoins. This represents claims from the stablecoin holder associated with Circle’s obligation to redeem stablecoins on a F-32

one-for-onebasis. Circle stablecoins are the USDC and EURC payment stablecoins and are digital currencies issued natively on blockchain networks. All stablecoins issued and outstanding are backed by at least an equivalent amount of fiat currency denominated reserve assets. Stablecoins not accounted for could result in the amount of claims from the stablecoin holder to be more than the amount of reserve assets. We identified deposits from stablecoin holders as a critical audit matter due to the fact that the issuance and redemption of stablecoins requires complex computer code operations and smart contracts. The nature and extent of audit effort required to address the matter includes significant involvement of more experienced engagement team members and involvement of specialist. How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit Our audit procedures related to deposits from stablecoin holders included the following, among others:

| • |     | We tested the effectiveness of controls over management’s minting and burning process for the issuance and redemption of stablecoins. |

| • |     | We tested effectiveness of controls over management’s reconciliation of reserve assets to stablecoin in circulation on approved blockchains. |

| • |     | We utilized our proprietary audit tool and involved specialists to independently obtain evidence from public blockchains to test the completeness of stablecoins minted and outstanding by blockchain.