A crypto company IPO is similar to any other form of initial public offering. During this process, a private company sells a new issuance of its crypto assets to the public, facilitating capital raising. This process requires a company to comply with specific regulations and increase its level of transparency, essentially offering its operations up for public scrutiny. While this has meant that crypto IPOs over the years have been sparing, going public is becoming increasingly common for crypto companies. So what’s in store for 2024? Here are five companies that might go public.
Can a crypto company go public?
Yes, a crypto company can go public! Now, the logistics of going public depend on the type of company, current regulations, and the group’s general approach to doing so. We’ve already seen a few groups hold a crypto company IPO, such as Coinbase, but we’ll get more into that later.
Past crypto IPOs
Coinbase is perhaps the most notable cryptocurrency business to go public in recent years. The company went public in 2021 and reached over $80 billion in valuation on its first week of trading, over eight times more than its valuation as a private company.
Robinhood, while not a primarily crypto company, is another example of a crypto company that has successfully gone public. On July 28, 2021, Robinhood set its share price at $38, raising approximately $2 billion and bringing the company’s valuation to $32 billion.
Many other crypto companies have gone public, although they have not received the same amount of hype as Coinbase’s debut. Some of these include MicroStrategy, Galaxy Digital, and Marathon Digital.
SPACs
Due to several associated advantages, cryptocurrency companies often prefer Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) for going public. SPAC deals allow companies to go public through a merger with a publicly listed shell company, bypassing the traditional initial public offering (IPO) process.
SPACs were promoted as an easier alternative to the traditional process. These deals became popular in various sectors, including technology and blockchain, especially in 2021. However, the hype surrounding SPACs eventually faded, and many planned deals fell through in 2022.
Circle, the company behind USDC, a stablecoin, announced plans to go public through a merger with Concord Acquisition Corp. However, this deal ultimately fell flat.
eToro, a social investment platform that includes cryptocurrency trading, also planned to go public through a merger with FinTech Acquisition Corp, but ultimately this deal was also canceled.
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Bakkt is one of a handful of success stories that went public via a SPAC. The digital asset marketplace merged with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings in a deal that took it public. Bakkt is known for providing a regulated marketplace for Bitcoin futures and options.
The crypto company IPOs of 2024
So which crypto IPO is the best in 2024? Read on to check out our list.
1. Circle
As mentioned previously, Circle has attempted to go public in the past. However, it seems that the popular stablecoin issuer is making another attempt at an IPO. Circle is the issuer of the USDC stablecoin and enables redemptions for USD.
In 2023, Circle made headlines due to its exposure to failed banks Signature and Silicon Valley Bank. The USDC stablecoin issued by Circle had a brief depegging but would eventually recover.
Presently, Circle’s assets held in reserves include slightly under $25 billion in U.S. Treasuries. The company undergoes monthly audits conducted by Deloitte to ensure transparency and trust. These holdings are verifiable through their CUSIP numbers, providing additional security and transparency for users and investors.
In early January 2024, the company announced that it integrated Chainlink’s CCIP with its CCTP to provide cross-chain communication for issuing native USDC on multiple blockchains. This level of exposure offers USD markets to non-U.S. residents, effectively creating a pseudo-Eurodollar market. This further adds to its value as a company.
2. Kraken
Kraken is another U.S.-based crypto company that has expressed interest in going public in the past. However, the company has yet to do so. This could be due to a number of reasons:
- The exchange has faced troubles in the past with the SEC. In February 2023, Kraken was forced to pay $30 million in fines for offering its staking service, which was ultimately forced to shut down.
- Later the same year, they were hit with another lawsuit from the SEC for operating an unregistered security.
- Kraken’s CEO came under fire in 2022 for controversial comments about workplace culture. He ultimately stepped down for an unrelated reason.
Despite these setbacks, the company continues to operate. Kraken has more than 10 million clients in over 190 countries and does about $207 billion in quarterly trading volume. This adds to the thesis that Kraken is another top crypto company that may go public in 2024.
3. Blockchain.com
Nicolas Cary, Blockchain.com co-founder, stated in 2023 that the company still plans to go public but would need market conditions in the U.S. to improve first. The company initially stated a 2023 IPO but failed to meet this deadline.
In March 2021, the company’s value reached $5.2 billion following a $300 million funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and VY Capital. The next month saw an additional boost in valuation with a $100 million investment from Baillie Gifford.
By March 2022, the firm successfully concluded a Series D financing round, which catapulted its valuation to $14 billion. In 2023, Blockchain.com also secured about $110 million in a series E funding round, one of the highest of that year. Blockchain.com is a platform that provides financial services for the cryptocurrency market. It’s best known for its digital crypto wallet service but also operates an exchange, blockchain explorer, and institutional markets services.
4. W3BCloud
W3BCloud is a joint venture between ConsenSys, AMD, and Social Leverage Acquisition Corp (SLAC). The company focuses on providing geographically decentralized data storage using renewable energy. It is promoted as an alternative to services like Amazon Web Services.
Two of its supporters, AMD and ConsenSys, pledged $50 million in 2022, while SLAC pledged $345 million. The valuation of the company reached about $1.25 billion at the time.
However, SLAC would go on to mutually terminate the deal, leaving AMD and ConsenSys. This ultimately dropped the valuation of the company to $700 million.
To add insult to injury, nearly 95% of investor’s shares were redeemed, citing a failure to meet minimum cash requirements before going public. Despite the many setbacks, the company still has its sights set on a crypto IPO.
5. eToro
eToro is a social trading and investment platform that allows users to trade a wide range of financial instruments, including stocks, cryptocurrencies, commodities, indices, and currencies.
Despite eToro’s cancellation of its SPAC with FinTech Acquisition Corp. V, the company may still go public. In 2023, eToro successfully raised $250 million in a funding round, achieving a valuation of $3.5 billion. Key investors in this round included ION Group, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Velvet Sea Ventures, along with several of its existing investors.
This funding was facilitated through an Advance Investment Agreement (AIA) initiated in February 2021 in anticipation of a proposed SPAC transaction.
The green revolution: The sustainable future of crypto company IPOs
While some potential crypto IPOs in 2024 have been listed, it’s noteworthy that dozens of crypto groups and key market players still have yet to hold an IPO and may not for some time. That hesitation is largely due to a lack of regulation surrounding the space. What could currently change in a year or two?
On the other hand, many people anticipate a proverbial gold rush of crypto company IPOs, contingent upon Circle’s success, in the same way that the Bitcoin ETF sparked a wave of hype around more ETFs. If successful, we may see a new wave of bullish activity in mid to late 2024.
Frequently asked questions
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How does a company make money going public?
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