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SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION
The Cipher Mining Inc. 2021 Incentive Award Plan (the “Incentive Award Plan”) provides for the grant of stock options, including incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, RSUs and other stock or cash-based awards to employees, consultants and directors. Upon vesting of an award, the Company may either issue new shares or reissue treasury shares.
Initially, up to 19,869,312 shares of Common Stock were available for issuance under awards granted pursuant to the Incentive Award Plan. In addition, the number of shares of Common Stock available for issuance under the Incentive Award Plan is increased on January 1 of each calendar year beginning in 2022 and ending in 2031 by an amount equal to the lesser of (a) three percent (3%) of the total number of shares of Common Stock outstanding on the final day of the immediately preceding calendar year and (b) such smaller number of shares determined by the Board. On January 1, 2024, this resulted in an increase of 8,728,736 shares of Common Stock available for issuance under the Incentive Award Plan. As of September 30, 2024, 6,072,603 shares of Common Stock were available for issuance under the Incentive Award Plan.
The Company recognized total share-based compensation in Compensation and benefits on the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations for the following categories of awards as follows (in thousands):
Three Months Ended September 30,Nine months ended September 30,
2024202320242023
Service-based RSUs$9,308 $7,038 $25,665 $17,865 
Performance-based RSUs903 3,416 4,674 10,136 
Common stock, fully-vested— 245 1,526 686 
Total share-based compensation expense$10,211 $10,699 $31,865 $28,687 
Service-Based RSUs
A summary of the Company's unvested Service-Based RSU activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 is shown below:
Number of Shares
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
December 31, 202317,047,242$3.23 
Granted10,746,682$3.20 
Forfeited(40,757)$2.71 
Vested(6,273,366)$3.57 
Unvested at September 30, 202421,479,801$3.12 
As of September 30, 2024, there was approximately $29.7 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested Service-Based RSUs, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average vesting period of approximately 1.1 years.
If not fully vested upon grant, Service-based RSUs awarded generally vest over a period ranging from three to four years in equal installments on the award’s anniversary of the vesting commencement date, which will generally coincide with the timing when the employee or consultant began to provide services to the Company, as determined by the Board, and which may precede the grant date. Vesting is subject to the award recipient’s continuous service on the applicable vesting date; provided, that if the award recipient’s employment is terminated by the Company without “cause”, by award recipient for “good reason” (if applicable, as such term or similar term may be defined in any employment, consulting or similar service agreement between award recipient and the Company) or due to award recipient’s death or permanent disability, all unvested Service-based RSUs will vest in full (unless otherwise specified in the agreement between the award recipient and the Company). In addition, in the event of a change in control, any unvested Service-based RSUs will vest subject to the award recipient’s continuous service to the Company through such change in control. In addition, if the Company achieves a $10 billion market capitalization milestone (described further below) and the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) remains in continuous service through such achievement, any then-unvested Service-based RSUs awarded to the CEO will also vest.
Performance-Based RSUs
There was no new activity for unvested Performance-Based RSUs during the nine months ended September 30, 2024. There were 4,257,710 unvested Performance-Based RSUs at a weighted average grant date fair value of $7.76 as of both September 30, 2024 and 2023. There was approximately $0.5 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested Performance-Based RSUs, which is expected to be recognized over a remaining weighted average vesting period of approximately 0.1 years.
One-third of the outstanding Performance-Based RSUs will vest upon the Company achieving a market capitalization equal to or exceeding $5 billion, $7.5 billion and $10 billion, in each case over a 30-day lookback period and subject to the CEO’s continuous service through the end of the applicable 30-day period. In the event of a change in control and CEO’s continuous service through such change in control, the per share price (plus the per share value of any other consideration) received by the Company’s stockholders in such change in control will be used to determine whether any of the market capitalization milestones are achieved (without regard to the 30-day lookback period). Any Performance-Based RSUs that do not vest prior to the CEO’s termination of service or, if earlier, in connection with a change in control will be forfeited for no consideration