Crypto exchange Kraken isn’t rushing toward a US public listing, even as a friendlier policy climate and improving market conditions have spurred other crypto companies to pursue an initial public offering.
“We’re financially sound. We know how to have our own risk management on how we run our company,” Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi told Yahoo Finance on Thursday.
“We have enough capital on our balance sheet today as a private company,” he added. “We don’t race to the door as quickly as possible.”
Multiple crypto companies have gone public this year, as the Trump administration has signaled a friendlier approach to the industry, which is seen as helping to spur successful debuts.
Reports since at least mid-2024 have said Kraken was planning to go public, with Bloomberg reporting in March that the company was lining up an IPO for as early as the first quarter of 2026.
No FOMO despite new IPOs
Sethi said Kraken doesn’t have “the fear of missing out because everyone else is doing it.”
On Thursday, crypto asset manager Grayscale filed to debut in the US as companies look to repeat stablecoin issuer Circle’s bumper IPO in June, where its shares soared over 160% to over $83. A rally in the days after pushed the company’s stock price to over $260, but it’s since cooled to just over $82.
Kraken rivals Gemini, Bullish and eToro have also debuted this year alongside blockchain firm Figure, while custody firm BitGo filed to go public in September.
“What’s good about these companies coming out first is that they are educating the market on what’s good and what’s bad, what margin looks like, how do you make money,” he added.
Related: Bitcoin is having its IPO moment, says Wall Street veteran
Kraken launched in 2011, and Crunchbase shows that it has raised $530 million in funding over that time, the bulk of which came from a $500 million venture round in September that valued it at $15 billion.
Kraken’s Sethi not worried about Bitcoin dip
Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen over 4% in the past day to near $97,000, a more than 22% correction from its peak of over $126,000 in early October.
However, Sethi didn’t appear concerned about the price drop, which typically translates to lower traffic and volume across the board for crypto exchanges like Kraken.
“If you just look at the general slope of crypto, Bitcoin […] you always have these curves that have continued to change for all asset classes,” he said.
“What’s much more important is the thesis behind why you’d want to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum, or any of these assets, versus holding a dollar or any other shares,” he added.
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