BURNS M MICHELE 4

What Happened

• Michele Burns, a director of Circle Internet Group, exercised 10,000 stock options at $0.08 per share (cost $800) on Feb 26, 2026, and the same day sold 10,000 shares in an open-market transaction at $82.00 per share for gross proceeds of $820,000. A related derivative conversion/disposition was also reported at $0.00. Overall this appears to be an exercise of vested options followed by an immediate sale (cashless-style transaction) rather than a market-timed purchase.

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-02-26
• Exercise: 10,000 options at $0.08 each — total cost $800 (transaction code M)
• Sale: 10,000 shares at $82.00 each — gross proceeds $820,000 (transaction code S)
• Report also shows a derivative conversion/disposition of 10,000 shares at $0.00 (reported separately)
• Footnote: the stock options exercised were fully vested
• Shares owned after the transactions: not specified in the provided filing
• Filing timeliness: filed 2026-03-02; appears timely (within the required two business days)

Context

• Exercising options and immediately selling the resulting shares is common for insiders to cover exercise costs, taxes, or realize gains; it does not by itself indicate a change in view about the company. For retail investors, outright purchases are generally a stronger bullish signal than same-day option exercises followed by sales. The filing is factual and does not state the insider’s motivations.