The highly successful Circle IPO has other crypto companies gearing up to go public.
Within days of its debut, stablecoin giant Circle’s stock (CRCL) rallied more than 4x its IPO price of $31 to $125 — and other crypto companies are evidently looking to take advantage of the market’s favorable conditions.
CRCL is currently trading near $107, down about 8% on the day, but up 57% from its opening price on the NYSE on June 5.
The day after Circle’s IPO, centralized exchange (CEX) Gemini announced that it had begun the process of filing for an IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Fellow U.S. CEX Kraken has been reportedly seeking the move to IPO, and, as of this week, Bullish, the crypto exchange backed by Peter Thiel and parent company of CoinDesk, has also reportedly filed to go public in the U.S.
The flurry of filings may only increase, as companies look to capitalize on the current climate. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said on the Bits and Bips podcast earlier this week that the timing looks right:
“I look at the fees for trading and I compare to what I’m used to in the ETF world when I’m looking at spreads and transaction fees, and man they are juicy fees and at some point it’s going to have to come down. So if I were an exchange I’d launch [an IPO] now when they’re still able to charge.”
In addition to the confirmed and reported IPO filings from exchange giants, there are also rumblings about whether or not some leading altcoin companies, particularly XRP’s Ripple Labs, may seek a stock offering as well.
Top U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase pioneered the move among crypto-native firms, going public via direct listing back in 2021, in what would end up looking like a top signal for that bull run.
Meanwhile, other DeFi companies are doubling down on their native tokens, and making a point of stating that there will never be a Wall Street stock offering. Morpho in particular made a strong statement on the topic last week, with co-founder CEO Paul Frambot announcing that there will only ever be one asset for Morpho — the MORPHO token.
