Wall Street Embraces Crypto: 4 IPO Listings In 7 Months
Illustration of Nasdaq and Bitcoin logos.
Circle, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), debuted on the NYSE today by raising $1.05 billion at $31 per share, valuing the company at roughly $8 billion. The IPO exceeded expectations and was one of the largest crypto-related listings since Coinbase in 2021. It signals a significant shift: crypto firms, especially those dealing in infrastructure or stablecoins, are now being viewed as more 'institutionally safe' than speculative assets. Circle's CEO, Jeremy Allaire emphasized in his X account that going public promotes transparency and trust - essential ingredients for bridging crypto and traditional finance.
Crypto related IPOs.
Galaxy Digital uplisted to Nasdaq in May 2025. Previously listed in Toronto, the firm made the move to gain greater liquidity and access to U.S. capital. Although it didn't raise money on the day of its listing, Galaxy soon followed with a secondary offering. The uplisting was seen as a regulatory milestone - Galaxy shifted domicile from the Cayman Islands to Delaware to meet listing requirements.
eToro, the Israeli social trading platform, went public the same week. Priced at $52, the stock surged nearly 30% on debut, giving it a ~$5.6 billion valuation. eToro's pivot to regulatory compliance, such as limiting its U.S. crypto services and settling with the SEC, played a major role in making the IPO viable. Crypto now forms a significant chunk of eToro's revenue, blurring the line between fintech and crypto-native businesses.
Exodus, maker of a self-custody crypto wallet, uplisted to NYSE in late 2024. Though smaller in size (~$800–900 million market cap), its listing marked a step forward for crypto software firms. The move followed the election of President Trump and a more crypto-friendly regulatory tone, signaling a potential shift in how smaller crypto players can access public markets.
Yoni and Ronen Assia, co-founders of eToro, after the eToro IPO event outside the Nasdaq in New ... More York.
Coinbase's direct listing in April 2021 was historic. It opened at $381, peaking at $429, and ended the day with a valuation around $85 billion. The listing legitimized crypto on Wall Street and established a blueprint for future IPOs. Today, Coinbase has gained further credibility by entering the S&P 500 index in 2025.
Robinhood, though not crypto-native, made its mark in July 2021. The IPO raised $2 billion at a $32 billion valuation. Robinhood's significant crypto trading volumes made it a proxy for retail crypto enthusiasm. Its listing reinforced the narrative that consumer fintechs with crypto exposure could thrive in public markets.
Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Coinbase.
Companies like Marathon, Riot, and Strategy (formelly known as MicroStrategy) went public before they were crypto-linked:
Marathon and Riot pivoted to Bitcoin mining from totally different businesses (patents and biotech) and reached $4-5 billion market caps during bull cycles.
Strategy, originally an analytics software company, became a de facto Bitcoin ETF, amassing over 568,000 BTC and reaching a $25 billion valuation.
These firms illustrate how legacy businesses have transformed into crypto leaders, even if their IPOs predated the sector's rise.
Michael Saylor, co-founder and CEO of Strategy.
Several crypto companies are considered strong IPO candidates:
ConsenSys (developer of MetaMask and other Ethereum developer tools) is viewed as nearly IPO-ready, with a $7 billiob valuation and ongoing internal preparations. It could become the first pure-play blockchain infrastructure listing.
Ledger, the hardware wallet maker, is likely to IPO on Euronext or a U.S. exchange. With $500+ million in funding and strong global brand recognition, it could appeal to security-conscious investors.
Fireblocks, an institutional custody provider, is valued at $8 billion. While in no rush to go public, it has been hiring C-suite leaders in preparation.
Chainalysis, the blockchain intelligence and analytics firm, is a key compliance partner to governments and businesses. Leadership changes and new board members hint at IPO readiness.
Kraken may be the next major U.S. exchange to list. It's been expanding globally and acquiring traditional trading platforms like NinjaTrader.
Revolut, while not crypto-native, is seen as a possible candidate for IPO. With its massive user base and crypto integration, it would highlight the fintech-crypto convergence.
1. Maturing Crypto Businesses: Firms like Circle and Coinbase now resemble traditional fintechs - with compliance teams, revenue transparency, and risk management. This appeals to public investors seeking durable growth.
2. Regulatory Shift: Under the Trump administration, the U.S. has signaled a more crypto-friendly stance. The SEC's softer tone (e.g. approving spot Bitcoin ETFs and dismissing many lawsuits against crypto companies) and moves toward stablecoin legislation reduce uncertainty for would-be public companies.
3. Institutional Buy-In: Heavyweights like BlackRock, Visa, and Fidelity are not only backing crypto firms, taking part in their IPOs, but also launching crypto-related services. Their involvement lends legitimacy and opens doors for broader investment.
4. Better Investor Protections: Public listings require disclosures and financial oversight, giving both retail and institutional investors greater confidence.
2025 is emerging as a watershed year in which crypto and traditional finance begin to truly converge. What was once considered a fringe sector defined by volatility and skepticism is now producing companies that are not only IPO-ready, but in some cases are joining the ranks of the S&P 500. Crypto-native firms like Circle, Galaxy Digital, eToro, and Exodus have all gone public over the past year, signaling that digital asset businesses are entering the financial mainstream. They join earlier listings from Coinbase and Robinhood, which helped lay the groundwork for what is now a rapidly expanding category of 'crypto stocks.'
For investors, this shift presents a broader and more diversified opportunity set. The market now includes publicly traded exchanges, self-custody wallets, institutional infrastructure providers, and fintech apps with integrated crypto trading and staking features. This diversity reflects a maturing industry that is increasingly defined not by speculative trading, but by real business models and long-term strategic vision.
Importantly, the move into public markets also brings greater accountability. Listed companies must meet higher standards for financial reporting, compliance, and governance - which in turn makes them more attractive to institutional capital. While significant risks remain, including regulatory fragmentation across jurisdictions and persistent market volatility, the underlying foundation of the crypto sector is stronger than ever. Going public enables these companies to access capital and scale responsibly, under the watchful eye of both regulators and public shareholders. In short, crypto's entrance into public equity markets marks a pivotal step toward institutional credibility, market discipline, and sustainable growth.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
23 minutes ago
- CBS News
Judge approves landmark NCAA settlement, clearing way for schools to pay athletes directly
A federal judge signed off on arguably the biggest change in the history of college sports on Friday, clearing the way for schools to begin paying their athletes millions of dollars as soon as next month as the multibillion-dollar industry shreds the last vestiges of the amateur model that defined it for more than a century. Nearly five years after Arizona State swimmer Grant House sued the NCAA and its five biggest conferences to lift restrictions on revenue sharing, U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken approved the final proposal that had been hung up on roster limits, just one of many changes ahead amid concerns that thousands of walk-on athletes will lose their chance to play college sports. The sweeping terms of the so-called House settlement include approval for each school to share up to $20.5 million with athletes over the next year and $2.7 billion that will be paid over the next decade to thousands of former players who were barred from that revenue for years. In a letter penned by NCAA President Charlie Baker following the announcement, Baker wrote that the settlement "opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports. This new framework that enables schools to provide direct financial benefits to student-athletes and establishes clear and specific rules to regulate third-party NIL [name, image and likeness] agreements marks a huge step forward for college sports." The agreement brings a seismic shift to hundreds of schools that were forced to reckon with the reality that their players are the ones producing the billions in TV and other revenue, mostly through football and basketball, that keep this machine humming. The scope of the changes — some have already begun — is difficult to overstate. The professionalization of college athletics will be seen in the high-stakes and expensive recruitment of stars on their way to the NFL and NBA, and they will be felt by athletes whose schools have decided to pare their programs. The agreement will resonate in nearly every one of the NCAA's 1,100 member schools boasting nearly 500,000 athletes. Wilken's ruling comes 11 years after she dealt the first significant blow to the NCAA ideal of amateurism when she ruled in favor of former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon and others who were seeking a way to earn money from the use of their name, image and likeness, or NIL — a term that is now as common in college sports as "March Madness" or "Roll Tide." It was just four years ago that the NCAA cleared the way for NIL money to start flowing, but the changes coming are even bigger. Wilken granted preliminary approval to the settlement last October. That sent colleges scurrying to determine not only how they were going to afford the payments, but how to regulate an industry that also allows players to cut deals with third parties so long as they are deemed compliant by a newly formed enforcement group that will be run by auditors at Deloitte. The agreement takes a big chunk of oversight away from the NCAA and puts it in the hands of the four biggest conferences. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC hold most of the power and decision-making heft, especially when it comes to the College Football Playoff, which is the most significant financial driver in the industry and is not under the NCAA umbrella like the March Madness tournaments are.
Wall Street Journal
23 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
United Switches Off Starlink Internet on Regional Jets After Static Problem
United Airlines started rolling out free Starlink Wi-Fi last month with fanfare. But it has had to disable the service on roughly two dozen planes to address problems with static interference. United said Friday that it is working with Starlink to address 'a small number of reports' about the problem, which it said isn't a flight-safety issue. While it is being fixed, the Starlink-equipped regional jets have been operating with the Wi-Fi turned off.
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
Landmark House v. NCAA Settlement Approved by Judge, Allowing Colleges to Pay Athletes
A federal judge in California finally approved a $2.6 billion settlement for college athletes that upends a century-old tenet of college sports—the notion that schools cannot pay the athletes that play for them. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken on Friday ushered in a new era—a professional era—for college sports by signing off on a plan for the NCAA and the five most prominent sports conferences to settle a class-action lawsuit with current and former college players. The deal will give backpay to some, as well as creating a system in which each Division I school will be able to distribute roughly $20 million a year to their athletes. Schools are poised to begin implementing the new model this fall. The decision has been months in the making, drawn out in its final weeks by the judge's insistence that the NCAA find a way to stop current athletes from losing their roster spots. The settlement would 'enable NCAA schools to share their athletic revenues with Division I college student-athletes for the first time in the history of the NCAA,' Wilken wrote in her 76-page opinion. She added that it was 'expected to open the door for Division I student- athletes to receive, in the aggregate, approximately $1.6 billion dollars in new compensation and benefits per year, with that amount increasing over the next ten years.' Each school that elects to share revenue with athletes will start by distributing more than $20 million in the coming academic year. That amount will reach about $32.9 million per school by 2034-35, the end of the injunctive-relief settlement, Wilken wrote. The settlement brings the biggest changes yet to college sports, which until recently had banned athletes from earning much more than a scholarship, room and board. It comes on the heels of years of upheaval that have included loosened restrictions on off-the-field compensation for players, liberalized transfer rules and blockbuster television deals for schools and the chaotic conference realignment that followed. Yet during all of that time, many college sports leaders had still resisted paying athletes directly from the billions of dollars in revenue they helped generate. Now, that restraint is off. Schools have been readying for months for the settlement effects to land on their athletic departments, most immediately by transforming how they recruit and manage rosters in football and basketball. 'People have been doing a lot of work on a contingent basis to try to create the infrastructure that's envisioned by the settlement,' NCAA President Charlie Baker said ahead of the final approval. 'It'll definitely be rocky and kind of messy coming out of the gate, because big things are that way.' Private equity has already been circling college sports, pledging to inject capital into schools but also to advise them on how to grow their sports business. And athletic departments are openly wrestling over what the ruling means for the future of Olympic sports on campus. Most of these sports do not generate much revenue, but American campuses serve as the primary Olympic training ground for Team USA. The settlement largely immunizes the NCAA against similar claims, a provision the association considered essential as it seeks to move past decades of court battles over payments for players. But it will almost certainly not end litigation over the shape of college sports. It isn't clear whether the money needs to be distributed equitably in accordance with Title IX, the federal statute that requires publicly funded institutions to provide equal opportunities to male and female athletes. Aside from preparing for schools to distribute roughly $20 million a year to athletes, the settlement didn't specify how exactly much should be allocated to each sport. The majority will likely go to football, the financial engine of most athletic departments, as well as men's basketball. Female athletes have raised questions over the payouts they are set to receive and what fair compensation looks like for them going forward. 'This settlement doesn't come close to recognizing the value I lost,' LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne said in an unsuccessful attempt to object to the settlement. There's also the open question of whether athletes getting paid by their institutions are working for them—a distinction that could open up schools to more legal challenges. But even without employee status, the settlement will transform the relationship between players and schools. Write to Louise Radnofsky at Laine Higgins at and Rachel Bachman at
