- Crypto firms are hinting at going public again.
- The promised crypto-positive era under US President Donald Trump could be spurring them on.
Surging markets and the promise of a new crypto-positive era under US President Donald Trump has lit a fire under crypto firms’ strategies.
They’ve had a hard time over the past few years.
For starters, the Securities and Exchange Commission under Chair Gary Gensler was, at points, suing many of them.
Those not engaged in legal battles faced scrutiny over whether the crypto assets they issued or offered for trading should be considered securities.
But since Trump entered the White House and Gensler resigned, firms including the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini and Peter Thiel-backed Bullish have hinted at going public.
Here are some of the top crypto firms considering an IPO.
Circle
Circle, the firm behind the $55 billion UDSC stablecoin, most recently filed for an IPO with the SEC in January last year after a failed attempt to go public in 2022.
More than 13 months later, the SEC is still reviewing Circle’s filing.
Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s CEO, has said on multiple occasions since the filing that the firm is committed to going public.
In September, Allaire announced that his firm will move its headquarters to New York ahead of its planned IPO.
“It became clear that we needed to plant our flag, both literally and figuratively, in the heart of Wall Street,” Allaire said in an X post.
A Circle spokesperson declined to comment on the firm’s IPO registration process, but told DL News that becoming a public company has always been a part of its core strategy.
Kraken
Ever since rival crypto exchange Coinbase executed an initial public offering in April 2021, Kraken, its smaller rival, has been itching to follow suit.
Jesse Powell, Kraken’s then CEO, said in June that year the exchange planned to go public within 18 months.
But Powell stepped down as CEO in September the following year, and the exchange’s IPO plans appeared to fizzle out.
Fast forward to 2024, and Kraken is once again weighing a public offering.
The exchange considered raising $100 million through a pre-IPO round, sources told Bloomberg in June. By January, Kraken had only raised about $27 million in primary capital, the news outlet reported.
“We have the optionality to raise money or to raise debt if we want to do that,” Arjun Sethi, Kraken’s co-chief executive, said. “All of the options of access to capital are available to us, regardless of whether we are private or public.”
Kraken did not respond to a request for comment on its IPO plans.
Gemini
Like Kraken, crypto exchange Gemini, run by Bitcoin billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, hinted at an IPO back in 2021.
“We are definitely considering it and making sure that we have that option,” Cameron Winklevoss told Bloomberg at the time.
Gemini ultimately shelved the idea as the crypto market nosedived a year later from the collapse of the Terra blockchain, crypto lender Celsius, and Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.
Now the twins are reportedly reviving Gemini’s IPO plans.
The crypto exchange and custodian is in talks with potential advisers on a listing, unnamed sources told Bloomberg on Thursday.
Gemini did not respond to a request for comment.
Ripple
Crypto payments firm and XRP issuer Ripple is another big name that could go public under the Trump administration.
In 2022, CEO Brad Garlinghouse told CNBC that Ripple will consider a public offering once it concludes its legal battle with the SEC over whether the sale of its XRP token was an illegal securities offering.
In 2024, Garlinghouse said his firm had explored markets outside the US for its IPO, ultimately putting the plans on hold.
Although Judge Analisa Torres ruled last year that XRP is not a security, the SEC has appealed the decision.
Still, with the drawn-out legal battle now in its final stages, Ripple’s long-awaited IPO could be just around the corner.
A spokesperson for Ripple declined to comment.
Bullish
CoinDesk owner and crypto exchange Bullish is another firm which has been eying an IPO.
In 2021, it too announced its intention to go public through a special purpose acquisition vehicle, or SPAC, but put those plans on hold.
For years, talk of a Bullish IPO went mum. Now, the exchange is once again considering an initial public offering as soon as this year, unnamed sources told Bloomberg.
The firm is working with Jefferies and JPMorgan on the potential listing, the sources told the news outlet.
Bullish did not respond to a request for comment.
Honourable mentions
There are several more crypto firms pegged to potentially go public.
In its 2025 predictions note, asset manager Bitwise said that crypto technology firm Figure, crypto infrastructure firm Anchorage Digital, and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis are all likely candidates for an IPO this year.
Elsewhere, crypto infrastructure provider Fireblocks is also considering going public, but on a longer timeframe.
“We don’t have any urgency,” CEO Michael Shaulov said in an interview with CoinDesk last year. “It’s definitely something, from an optionality standpoint, we will be looking at. Maybe in two or three years.”
Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.
