In the long term, there is another negative factor: Circle continues to issue shares to pay salaries.
Typically, companies issue shares to raise cash for operations, but Circle issues shares that are almost never invested in productive assets; instead, they are directly paid to people, including employee salaries, employee stock subscriptions, and business partnerships.
This year, 10.34 million shares have been issued, with an estimated total of about 17.74 million shares for the year, equivalent to a market value of approximately $1.19 billion, increasing the circulating supply by 7%. In 2027, it is estimated that about 9.94 million shares will be issued, equivalent to a market value of about $667 million. Over two years, this totals $1.86 billion. After deducting the shares returned from employees exercising options, the net outflow is about $1.69 billion, which equals 98% of Circle's cash on hand, while the amount repurchased during the same period is zero.
Even more astonishing is that Circle can issue up to 2.5 billion Class A shares, of which only 9.3% have been used so far, meaning it can still issue 10 times more. The currently authorized total issuance is about 78.7 million shares, roughly 31% of the circulating shares, and the authorized shares automatically replenish 6% of the circulating shares annually. The actual issuance volume each year is unilaterally decided by the compensation committee, and shareholders have no veto power.
$CRCL
Disclaimer: OKX Orbit content is provided for informational purposes only. Learn more