Katherine Ross

Circle’s taken one of its final steps to going public.&nbsp;



On Wednesday, the stablecoin issuer <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250604831596/en/Circle-Announces-Pricing-of-Upsized-Initial-Public-Offering">announced</a> the pricing of its initial public offering. Shares of the upsized IPO are expected to price at $31. The issuer is going public on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.



The firm now expects to offer 34 million shares. Bloomberg first <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-04/circle-ipo-is-said-to-price-above-range-to-raise-1-1-billion">reported</a> the news.&nbsp;



The announcement comes just days after Circle filed yet another amendment to its S-1, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-upsizes-ipo">upsizing the offering and the price</a>. The filing noted the company intended to offer 32 million Class A common stock in its public markets debut, a jump up from its initial plan to offer <a href="https://empire-blockworks.beehiiv.com/p/meme-to-mainstream?_bhlid=ae8ff9f4587d7becb731092a20ad1600bbabdb5b&amp;last_resource_guid=Post%3Ae12c0195-6707-494d-9dcd-963bdc706fd9&amp;utm_campaign=meme-to-mainstream&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_source=empire-blockworks.beehiiv.com">24 million shares.</a>&nbsp;



Circle said Monday it expected the offering price to be between $27 to $28, an increase from the original range of $24 and $26.&nbsp;



The changes in the Monday filing marked “a crystal-clear signal of strong demand” among institutions, Architect Partners founder Eric Risley told Blockworks earlier this week.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-ipo-acquisition">Why an acquisition of Circle may be off the table as its IPO approaches</a>



The stablecoin issuer noted that Cathie Wood-led Ark Invest showed interest in buying roughly $150 million worth of shares. A Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-28/blackrock-is-said-to-plan-to-buy-shares-in-circle-internet-ipo">report</a> last week indicated that BlackRock might also look to acquire Circle shares.&nbsp;



Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-ipo-price-listing-demand">told Blockworks yesterday</a> that Circle is positioning itself as a “boring is beautiful trade” for institutions seeking crypto exposure without balance sheet risk.&nbsp;



“Retail may find it harder to latch on,” Sigel added. “Circle doesn’t have the same volatility, beta, meme potential or brand recognition as Coinbase.”&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-nyse-listing-predictions/?nocache">Why it’s ‘difficult to predict’ how Circle’s NYSE listing plays out</a>



Circle was expected to debut on the public markets this week after filing its original S-1 amendment last week.



Jay Woods, chief global strategist for Freedom Capital Markets, previously told Blockworks that he wouldn’t be surprised if the company picked Thursday for its debut. There’s not a set reason for it, but it has become a popular choice for IPOs over a Wednesday debut.



As Circle was finalizing its IPO, which it officially announced at the beginning of last year, there were rumors of a potential acquisition by either Coinbase or Ripple. However, Woods said that the S-1 amendment pretty much put the talks of acquisitions to rest, at least for now.&nbsp;



Ben Strack contributed reporting.



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Circle

Circle shares price at $31 ahead of NYSE debut

Ben Strack

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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Stablecoin issuer Circle’s expected listing on the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow comes roughly four years after another crypto milestone: Coinbase’s public market debut.&nbsp;



I wrote yesterday about how the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-ipo-price-listing-demand">apparently solid institutional demand for Circle</a> doesn’t necessarily spell out what will happen once CRCL shares list.&nbsp;



&#8220;It’s difficult to predict the precise impact of this listing,” said Fineqia senior associate Matteo Greco. “Back in 2021, there was widespread belief that Coinbase’s stock would soar following its Nasdaq debut. The outcome proved quite different.”



Coinbase’s valuation at the time of its direct listing in April 2021 was widely considered to exceed fair value, Greco told me. And the timing was “unfortunate.”



COIN shares opened at $381 but closed at $328 on day one, Yahoo data shows. Though BTC reached a new high in November 2021, that was the beginning of a bear market. Coinbase stock dipped below $50 at times in mid-2022.&nbsp;



Although the stock has recovered to around $260 today, early investors have effectively been underwater for four-plus years, Greco noted.



With <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stablecon-execs-bullish-stablecoins-financial-revolution">stablecoin use cases gaining steam</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senate-advances-genius-act">proposed US legislation</a> on the table, the timing for Circle’s listing appears strong. Still, forecasting how CRCL shares will move on the NYSE is challenging, Greco argued.



“The main factor will be its valuation relative to what market participants deem to be its fair value,” he said.



The $7.2 billion valuation Circle is targeting (given the Monday filing <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-upsizes-ipo">upsizing its IPO</a>) is below the $7.7 billion valuation it got in an April 2022 funding round. The final IPO price is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-04/circle-ipo-is-said-to-be-likely-to-price-above-marketed-range-mbi24hhn">reportedly</a> expected Wednesday evening.



Compass Point analyst Ed Engel pointed out that the $7.2 billion valuation implies a 14.3x multiple on annualized first quarter EBITDA; Coinbase and Robinhood trade at about 30x their estimated 2025 EBITDA.



VanEck’s Matthew Sigel told me yesterday that Circle can be considered a “‘boring is beautiful’ trade” given its profitability, minimal leverage and position within Web3 financial infrastructure. But retail investors “may find it harder to latch on” to a company with less volatility and brand recognition than Coinbase, he argued.&nbsp;



Circle’s USDC stablecoin holds a roughly 24% market share in the ~$250 billion stablecoin segment. It generates highly visible interest income that can scale alongside stablecoin adoption, Engel said.&nbsp;



But, he added: “We also expect near-term USDC supply to remain driven by DeFi and crypto trading volumes, which are historically correlated with crypto market cycles.”Check <a href="http://blockworks.co">Blockworks.co</a> for updates on Circle’s final IPO pricing and CRCL stock movements.



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Why it’s ‘difficult to predict’ how Circle’s NYSE listing plays out

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Investors getting crypto exposure via stocks will soon have access to a stablecoin issuer: Circle is expected to list on the NYSE any day now.&nbsp;



While institutional demand for the company’s shares appears robust, retail interest is more of a wild card.



The USDC issuer launched its IPO last week and on Monday <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-upsizes-ipo">boosted the number of shares</a> it plans to offer (from 24 million to 32 million). Circle also set a higher price expectation per share — between $27 and $28.&nbsp;



Generally, underwriters (in this case JPMorgan, CitiGroup, Goldman Sachs, etc.) and their clients seek to slightly under-promise and over-deliver, Architect Partners co-founder Eric Risley told me.



“Both upsizing the number of shares expected to be sold as well as the price range is a crystal-clear signal of strong demand,” he noted.



That said, the roughly $7.2 billion valuation Circle is targeting is below the $7.7 billion valuation it got in an April 2022 funding round.



Risley explained that changes to IPO terms (like yesterday’s) are typically only made after a full assessment of demand. His point: The listing of CRCL shares is imminent.&nbsp;



Some of the strong institutional demand is coming from Ark Invest. Circle said in a Monday filing that the firm is interested in buying up to $150 million of Circle’s Class A common stock at the updated IPO price.



Lorenzo Valente, Ark’s digital assets research director, pointed out in February that stablecoins’ $220 million supply hit roughly 1% of the US’s M2 money supply. Stablecoins currently have a market cap around $235 billion, according to <a href="http://rwa.xyz">rwa.xyz</a> data. Ark’s <a href="https://www.nikkoam.com.hk/files/sp/ark/pdf/2502_ark_big_ideas.pdf">research</a> suggests it could hit $1.4 trillion by 2030.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdKtovOFBtk0kcucC93X40RKSwF5K61vNSbanu7J5jOnzvSKJtlzt4JuQ9Tzs0JsZpWb419gBDniDAr4psljU3ypIatep6s6SU6pS2PXR5UdarlCT8jjBQ2HJmrwZiNzrFA1v5y?key=0bMyocLhOZKNva5UxDX8Uw" alt=""/></figure>



“They settle more transaction volume across all blockchains than either Bitcoin or Ethereum, highlighting their growing dominance as the foundation of onchain activity,” Valente wrote about stablecoins.



The financial world has <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stablecon-execs-bullish-stablecoins-financial-revolution">woken up to stablecoins’ utility</a> as a fiat-pegged payment tool, especially given US lawmakers’ progress on legislation there (Casey has more on that if you scroll).&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stablecon-execs-bullish-stablecoins-financial-revolution">Digesting Stablecon: Execs bullish on imminent financial infrastructure revolution</a>



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tokenized-yield-funds-complement-stablecoins">BlackRock’s Robbie Mitchnick said in March</a> that while he sees tokenized money market funds as a better cash savings vehicle, stablecoins “will retain their dominance” as the instrument for payment and transaction.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Institutional vs. retail demand</h2>



Reports that BlackRock plans to buy Circle IPO shares reinforces Circle&#8217;s reputation as “the most institutionally integrated company in crypto,” argued Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research.&nbsp;



“In a sector still defined by volatility and regulatory overhang, Circle is positioning itself as the ‘boring is beautiful’ trade: profitable, minimally levered, and plugged into the core financial infrastructure of Web3,” he said.



For institutions looking for crypto exposure without balance-sheet risk, the company resembles a high-yield, regulated stablecoin utility, Sigel added. Circle’s core revenue, after all, comes from interest on USDC reserves — much like a money market fund, he said, but with programmability and 24/7 settlement.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe0hdaV_zL81TTSympUBxl84ZH0rl8DEFhpjVZEOPWR1nQWydAuUOBURlaXL-WEwE5Rpx5ylBNcBpGASvM1ThkmPGxfHWDdRjmJyK4l4flggMFD_JIZTB6JN7i-ScT0RwNz_28r?key=0bMyocLhOZKNva5UxDX8Uw" alt=""/></figure>



“Retail may find it harder to latch on,” the VanEck executive added. “Circle doesn’t have the same volatility, beta, meme potential or brand recognition as Coinbase.”&nbsp;



Speaking of Coinbase, COIN shares started trading on the Nasdaq — via direct listing — in April 2021. The stock opened at $381 and peaked at roughly $430. Shares are now hovering around $260.&nbsp;



COIN has earned a ~4% allocation in VanEck’s new Onchain Economy ETF (NODE), a fund that Sigel manages.&nbsp;



Circle labels “intense and increasing competition” — i.e. from <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tether-profits-versus-blackrock">USDT issuer Tether</a> — and “fluctuations in interest rates” among its risk factors.&nbsp;



Despite that, Sigel said it’s rare to find a crypto-native company that is “profitable, growing, capital-light and central to stablecoin infrastructure.” So NODE will evaluate Circle based on its valuation and growth outlook for the stock. Other crypto equity ETF <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/2025-crypto-stocks-to-watch">portfolio managers</a> will also consider a position in Circle as <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-exposures-volatility-stocks-analysts-saying">they navigate</a> a growing universe of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-ipo-boom-etoro-kraken">US public stocks</a> in the segment — <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/exodus-uplists-to-nyse-american">Exodus</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/galaxy-defi-technologies-nasdaq-us-listings">Galaxy and DeFi Technologies</a> now among them.&nbsp;



“If Coinbase is one of the main storefronts in the onchain economy, Circle could be the payments pipework running beneath it: less visible, but still essential to the flow of capital and trust,” Sigel said. Keep an eye on <a href="http://blockworks.co">Blockworks.co</a> — and your inbox — as our Circle IPO watch continues.



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Weighing institutional, retail demand for Circle ahead of public debut

Stablecoin issuer Circle is upping the number of shares it plans to offer as the company gets set to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.&nbsp;



The company is offering 32 million shares of Class A common stock, according to a Monday <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1876042/000119312525132755/d737521ds1a.htm">filing</a>. That includes 19.2 million shares offered from selling stockholders, for which Circle will not receive proceeds from.&nbsp;



Circle expects the initial public offering price to be between $27 and $28 per share, it added in the disclosure.&nbsp;



The share count and anticipated price are higher than what the company originally <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-ipo-acquisition">revealed</a>. Circle announced the launch of its IPO last week with plans of offering 24 million shares (14.4 million from selling stockholders). The IPO price at that time was projected to be from $24 to $26.&nbsp;



A <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/circle">Circle</a> spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on the changes.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stablecon-execs-bullish-stablecoins-financial-revolution">Digesting Stablecon: Execs bullish on imminent financial infrastructure revolution</a>



A company upsizing an IPO in this way typically signals an increase in demand from investors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



ARK Investment Management, for example, has indicated its interest in buying up to $150 million of Circle’s Class A common stock at the IPO price, Circle’s latest filing notes. A Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-28/blackrock-is-said-to-plan-to-buy-shares-in-circle-internet-ipo">report</a> last week indicated that BlackRock is also interested in acquiring shares. Check <a href="http://blockworks.co">Blockworks.co</a> — as well as the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Empire</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">Forward Guidance</a> newsletters — for ongoing coverage of Circle’s IPO. 



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Circle ups IPO share count, price ahead of NYSE listing

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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We finally have Circle’s <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1876042/000119312525070481/d737521ds1.htm#rom737521_1">S-1</a> and, honestly, it’s just as juicy as I had hoped.&nbsp;



It looks like Circle, which <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-files-s1-ahead-of-ipo">plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange</a> under ticker CRCL, is aiming for a valuation of around $4 billion to $5 billion.&nbsp;



Some folks — including PitchBook’s Robert Le — have noted that it’s a rather low valuation. In Le’s case, he thinks it could be purposefully low.



Coinbase, when it went public in 2021, kicked off trading with a nearly $100 billion valuation. Obviously, the two companies, while very intertwined, have different business models, so don’t get too excited about Circle getting anywhere near those levels.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Circle earned ~$1.7b revenue in 2024 and paid out $900M+ to <a href="https://twitter.com/coinbase?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@coinbase</a> as a distribution partner That ~$1B going to Coinbase likely comes with little to no cost/opex to serve. At 10x earnings = $10 B mkt cap and likely contributes ~25% of <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24COIN&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$COIN</a> valuation For perspective -… <a href="https://t.co/2Et3yaSgas">pic.twitter.com/2Et3yaSgas</a>&mdash; James Ho (@jamesjho_) <a href="https://twitter.com/jamesjho_/status/1907187974594240647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Especially if stablecoin legislation is passed.&nbsp;



But the roadshow will be the real test for the stablecoin issuer, Le told me.



“My guess is, if it all goes well, that valuation should push up much higher toward the end of their roadshow. And then that would be a positive signal,” especially if interest is higher than anticipated.&nbsp;



As Wyatt Lonergan of VanEck Ventures noted, the issuer will face questions around the market evolution and what could possibly be the beginning of “stablecoin wars,” which would see everyone, including big banks, look to issue their own stablecoins.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Partner costs are probably the biggest line item to pay attention to, but also the most misunderstood line item, coming out of Circle’s IPO filing. Today, Coinbase takes the lion share of USDC revenue as the primary distribution partner. $900m ish of that $1 billion number.… <a href="https://t.co/z7sFKTJRKw">https://t.co/z7sFKTJRKw</a>&mdash; Wyatt Lonergan (@Wyatt_Lonergan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Wyatt_Lonergan/status/1907191801884102978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



It’ll “come down to how the market evolves and begins using stablecoins at scale. If that stable is USDC, then they’ll get a strong multiple even as their take rate declines, because the potential markets they can grow into are massive.”



But on the venture capital front, strong demand for the listing could open up a new exit path for crypto investments, and that would be a “shift that might encourage additional capital inflows into crypto startups.”



Circle could — and so far looks to be — just the start of a crypto IPO boom, with others like Kraken, Chainalysis and Fireblocks in the wings. Add in the pick up in M&amp;A activity and the liquidity routes are wide open for a lot of folks.



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Circle’s valuation could top $5B post-roadshow

Bitdeer has become one of the biggest bitcoin miners in the world by market capitalization just three months after going public.&nbsp;



The company’s stock began trading on Nasdaq on April 14 <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitdeer-to-go-public">via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger</a> with Blue Safari Group Acquisition Corp.&nbsp;



Bitdeer CEO Matt Linghui Kong told Blockworks in an email that the company’s listing provides it with “increased visibility and credibility.”&nbsp;



“We strategically deployed five mining data centers, including two mining data centers in Norway and three more in the US, with expansion plans to create more local jobs and build up more key positions in the company based in the US,” he added. “Becoming a public company will enable us to reach these twin goals.”



The firm’s ride on the stock market hasn’t been without its bumps. Bitdeer’s stock price closed at $7.03 on its first day of trading and dropped to as low as $4.60 in the following weeks, according to Peter Stoneberg, a managing director at crypto advisory firm Architect Partners.



But the stock was trading at roughly $14 on Monday morning, up about 31% from a month ago.&nbsp;



Bitdeer’s market capitalization stands at $1.56 billion, behind only Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms among publicly traded miners. The stock prices of Marathon and Riot are up 70% and 52%, respectively, over the past month.



“Wall Street was struggling to find stocks that get you crypto exposure, and Bitdeer cornered a big part of crypto mining,” OANDA senior market analyst Ed Moya said. “A lot of crypto traders like the Ordinals protocol that could help with growth for NFTs and meme-token transactions.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Bitdeer’s low public float — referring to the number of shares available to the public — has contributed to its stock price jump, Stoneberg said.



“Only 24% of the company&#8217;s outstanding shares are held by the public, and the average daily trading volume is only about 100,000 shares,” Stoneberg explained. “This low float makes the stock more volatile, as news can drive the price up or down significantly.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Eyeing hash rate growth, global expansion&nbsp;</h2>



The hash rate for Singapore-based Bitdeer, founded in 2018, stood at 18.8 exahashes per second (EH/s) at the end of June. And the amassing of that computing power has caught the eye of stock watchers in the market.



The company’s revenue generation across self-mining, cloud mining and hosting services give it “an attractive business model,” Stoneberg said.&nbsp;



Bill Cannon, head of portfolio management at Valkyrie, said Bitdeer’s continued mining infrastructure build-out worldwide has also been a boon to the stock’s recent rise.&nbsp;



Bitdeer is a top-10 holding in Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI).&nbsp;&nbsp;



Bitdeer said earlier this month that its 100 megawatt (MW) mining data center in Bhutan — set to boost its hash rate by 3.3 EH/s — is expected to begin operating this month. The plans to complete construction come after 10,000 mining machines arrived at the facility last month, according to Linghui Kong.&nbsp;



The data center will be the company’s first in Asia and will operate at carbon neutrality as a result of Bhutan’s hydroelectric power generation, the Bitdeer CEO said.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitdeer-bhutan-mining-project">Bitdeer counting on big funding for Bhutan mining project — Is it plausible?</a>



The company has begun constructing a 175 MW immersion cooling data center at its facility in Norway. Completion of that project is expected in 2025.&nbsp;



“This projected rise in production and efficiency will compete with much of the larger industrial players in the sector while carrying positive momentum into the halving period next year,” Cannon told Blockworks.&nbsp;



Bitdeer also recently announced a share buyback program of up to $1 million.&nbsp;



“This is a positive signal to the market, as it shows that the company is confident in its future prospects,” Stoneberg said. “However, the buyback program is not very material, given Bitdeer&#8217;s…market capitalization.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">More crypto firms to go public?</h2>



Bitdeer’s initial public offering (IPO) is similar to other SPAC deals that have been popular in recent years, Cannon said. Recently, SPAC-type IPOs have become more rare due to macroeconomic and regulatory conditions.



There were 613 SPAC IPOs in 2021, but only 86 in 2022, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1178249/spac-ipo-usa/">according</a> to Statista. The pace has slowed even further this year — the first five months of 2023 saw the debut of just 14 SPACs.



Though such deals have declined, Cannon added, more could be on the horizon as crypto enjoys more institutional attention.&nbsp;



Stablecoin issuer Circle <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-kills-spac-plans">canceled</a> its SPAC deal in December, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circles-public-listing-plans-undeterred">but still intends to go public</a>.&nbsp;



Cloud mining firm BitFuFu delayed its IPO plans via a merger with SPAC Arisz Acquisition Corp in February. A couple months later, Blockchain platform Chia Network in April submitted to the SEC a draft registration statement for a proposed IPO.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Other companies have gone ahead this year. Bitcoin ATM operator Bitcoin Depot went public earlier this month after combining with SPAC <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=MBPabHr6KJN0S8HGxgw_5tY7yIAn7lRlfevkiNcMs8rxDDcY29MUgaEmddGl-3KCmqB1LUfd-y1aQ6Y2YSqMETk6EPcPCa3TeAwIFuBUEeQ=">GSR II Meteora Acquisition Corp</a>. The company’s stock price closed at $3.61 on its opening day of trading July 3.&nbsp;



The stock was trading $3.23 Monday at 12 pm ET, down about 5% on the day.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mining stocks at a glance</h2>



After a rough 2022 for crypto, the mining sector has separated itself by improving productivity strategies and working within the current regulatory and infrastructure environment, Cannon noted.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-miners-ai-computing">Bitcoin miners seek revenue with AI, high-performance computing</a>&nbsp;



Crypto mining stock prices were collectively up 54% during the second quarter of 2023, according to an Architect Partners report.&nbsp;&nbsp;



By comparison, bitcoin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc">BTC</a>) and ether (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/eth">ETH</a>) prices gained 83% and 18%, respectively, during the second quarter.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Innovation in electricity consumption and production not only benefits the bitcoin mining ecosystem, but other sectors like [artificial intelligence] and social media-related applications that require more heavy data capacity in the near term,” Cannon said.



Updated July 18, 2023 at 5:15 pm ET: A previous version of this article stated bitcoin mining rig developer Bitmain owned Bitdeer. Bitdeer is a spin-off of the company, but not owned by Bitmain.



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Bitcoin mining

As SPAC IPOs have grown scarce, Bitdeer’s success bucks a trend

The latest SEC action against publicly traded company Coinbase has not deterred crypto payments tech company Circle — or others — from continuing its quest to go public.



Still, the path for most companies mulling a public listing is likely to be tough in the current environment, an industry executive said.&nbsp;&nbsp;



After revealing a plan to become a public company by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2021, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a December 2022 tweet that his company “did not complete SEC qualification in time.”



Executives said earlier this year <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-stablecoin-usdc-public-hiring">going public remained a key part of Circle’s strategy</a> — a plan confirmed again this week by a company spokesperson and a recent job posting.&nbsp;



&#8220;We are not prepared to put a specific deadline on the decision, but we will be taking steps to continue our journey to go public as soon as practicable,&#8221; a Circle spokesperson told Blockworks.



A Circle job listing posted two weeks ago for corporate counsel also makes reference to these plans.



The professional would be tasked with “assisting with potential going public SEC process” as well as “supporting the building out of our public company policies, practices and processes,” the job description states.



Circle’s plans remain despite the SEC’s latest lawsuit against Coinbase, which has been a public company for more than two years.&nbsp;



Coinbase went public in April 2021 after the SEC “declared effective” its registration on Form S-1 — the initial registration document for new securities. But the regulator <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-sues-coinbase#">alleged in a complaint Tuesday</a> that Coinbase has been operating as an unregistered exchange — charges the company has denied.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-sec-hypocrisy-not-really">Coinbase Was Allowed to Go Public, Then Got Sued — Hypocrisy? Not Really, Some Say</a>



“Declaring effective a Form S-1 registration statement does not constitute an SEC or staff opinion on, or endorsement of, the legality of an issuer’s underlying business,” the SEC complaint states.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Galaxy Digital’s plans to go public by becoming a Delaware-incorporated company and subsequently list on the Nasdaq — <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/galaxy-public-sec-earnings">reiterated in March</a> — also remain, a spokesperson said Friday. The company’s latest amended registration was submitted to the SEC in February and is currently under review.



But the current environment could pose hurdles for most companies looking to go public, said Eric Risley, founder of crypto advisory firm Architect Partners.&nbsp;



“The fundamental requirements for a viable [initial public offering] is strong business momentum and a positive, or at least stable, business environment,” he told Blockworks in an email. “While each company is unique, it’s safe to conclude that neither of these requirements are present today. Until that changes, the IPO path will likely be postponed for most companies.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Kraken job posting also hints at continued IPO plans</h2>



Crypto exchange Kraken also hinted at its continued quest to go public in a recent job posting for a senior corporate and securities counsel.&nbsp;



It lists “public company preparedness” as one of the matters Kraken’s legal team is focused on, adding that “public company reporting experience” is a preferred skill for candidates.



A company spokesperson did not return a request for comment.&nbsp;



Kraken mulling an IPO is nothing new.&nbsp;



A Kraken spokesperson told Blockworks in June 2021 that the crypto exchange might consider going public in 2022.&nbsp;



“At this point no decision has been made and we&#8217;re fully focused on scaling our business, filling key roles and making sure we&#8217;re giving clients the best experience and products in a time of unprecedented growth,” the representative added at the time.



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Circle’s public listing plans undeterred by latest SEC actions

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_623a95c78bd01" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The prePO platform will provide retail investors the same access as institutions and hedge funds get to speculate on pre-initial public offerings</li>
 <li>Funding will go toward further development of the platform ahead of its expected launch in Q2, 2022</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Decentralized protocol prePO said Wednesday it had closed a $2.1 million strategic funding round, led by Republic Capital and IOSG Ventures, ahead of its upcoming trading platform launch in Q2.



In a press release shared with Blockworks, prePO said it would use the funding to bolster its efforts to &#8220;democratize&#8221; pre-public investing. The fresh funding adds to the protocol&#8217;s previous $1.1 million seed money in July of 2021.



The platform, which is not yet live, seeks to provide exposure for retail investors to speculate on the valuation of pre-IPO companies or pre-token projects. The first version of the platform is expected to launch on Ethereum scaling solution Arbitrum shortly after its token launch in the coming months.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;We currently live in a society of financial exclusion,&#8221; the protocol states in its <a href="https://docs.prepo.io/basics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">online documentation</a>. &#8220;All investors&nbsp;miss out on opportunities due to there being limited places on a cap table.&#8221;</blockquote>



Participation in the round came via MEXC, AscendEX, GCR, Shima Capital, Caballeros Capital, Dexterity Capital, HoneyDAO, NeptuneDAO; founders from Gnosis, 1inch, Moonbeam, Zapper, Gelato also participated, among others.



“We’re incredibly grateful to have such an all-star group of backers,&#8221; prePO founder Xavier Ekkel said. &#8220;Their industry expertise, deep networks, funding, and long-term support will be invaluable in accelerating the growth of prePO.”



The protocol consists of three key actors, each with their own set of responsibilities including traders, liquidity providers and &#8220;pregens&#8221; — those that vote on changes to the protocol via DOA proposals.



By using prePO, retail investors would gain access to opportunities that venture capitalists, institutional investors, and private equity firms have &#8220;enjoyed exclusively for decades,&#8221; the protocol said in its release.



Investors will also be able to use the platform to hedge their exposure to pre-public assets in their portfolio, or for transparent and up-to-date market pricing, the protocol added.



“prePO&#8217;s breakthrough design ensures that adequate liquidity exists for speculation and that liquidity providers are risk-limited and rewarded meaningfully,&#8221; Ray Xiao, principal at IOSG Ventures, said.



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