Company: CRCL
Filing Date: 2025-08-12
Form Type: S-1
Source: 0001193125-25-178989
Chunk: 51

Company: Circle Internet Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-08-12
Form: S-1
Chunk 51
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 business, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects.

Future developments regarding the treatment of Circle stablecoins and other stablecoins for U.S. federal income, state, and foreign tax purposes could adversely impact our business.

Due to the new and evolving nature of stablecoins and other digital assets, there is an absence of law and judicial precedent on their treatment for U.S. federal, state, and foreign income tax purposes. We do not know with any certainty when or if additional guidance will be provided. Changes to the tax law could lead to adverse tax consequences in the future.

In 2014, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released a notice (the “IRS Notice”) discussing certain aspects of “convertible virtual currency” (that is, a digital asset that has an equivalent value in fiat currency or that acts as a substitute for fiat currency) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The IRS stated that a digital asset (i) is “property,” (ii) is not “currency” for purposes of the rules relating to foreign currency gain or loss, and (iii) may be held as a capital asset. In 2019, the IRS released a revenue ruling and a set of “Frequently Asked Questions” (the “Ruling & FAQs”) that provide some additional guidance, including guidance to the effect that, under certain circumstances, hard forks of digital assets are taxable events giving rise to ordinary income and guidance with respect to the determination of the tax basis of digital assets. However, the IRS Notice and the Ruling & FAQs do not address other significant aspects of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of stablecoins. Furthermore, the IRS Notice states that no inference should be drawn with respect to virtual currencies not described therein.

The types of virtual currencies addressed in the IRS Notice and their features are significantly different from Circle stablecoins and stablecoins in general. Whereas the value of the types of virtual currencies addressed in the Notice reflect a variety of factors, such as perceived utility, they are not subject to a requirement by the**

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**issuer to redeem them on a one-for-one basis for fiat currency. Although we believe our treatment of digital asset transactions is consistent with existing guidance provided by the IRS, because of the rapidly evolving nature of digital asset innovations and the increasing variety and complexity of digital asset products, it is possible the IRS may disagree with our treatment, which could adversely affect our customers and end-users and the vitality of our business. Similar uncertainties exist