Kraken Sets Its Sights on Wall Street With $20bn IPO

Kraken has taken a decisive step toward becoming the next major crypto exchange to go public. The Wyoming-based company has confidentially filed a draft S-1 registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, just hours after announcing an $800 million fundraise that values the business at $20 billion. The timing is far from subtle. With regulatory pressure easing and traditional finance dipping back into the digital-asset sector, Kraken is positioning itself for a debut that could reshape the crypto exchange landscape.

A confidential filing with big implications

The company has not yet revealed how many shares it plans to offer or at what price. Those details will emerge only after the SEC completes its review, and the exchange has been careful to stress that an offering will depend on broader market conditions. Still, the confidential filing signals intent. Kraken has been edging toward public markets for years, but regulatory uncertainty kept the plan in limbo.

That obstacle weakened earlier this year when the SEC, under the Trump administration, dropped its lawsuit against the firm over its staking services. The move removed what had been the most significant roadblock for any potential IPO and gave Kraken space to build momentum.

A heavyweight funding round

The new funding round attracted participation from major institutions, including Ken Griffin’s Citadel, reinforcing investor confidence at a time when enthusiasm for digital-asset businesses has been uneven. The raise cements a $20 billion valuation and provides Kraken with the ammunition needed to embark on global expansion efforts outside the United States.

The firm has said it intends to use the capital to accelerate growth in markets where crypto exchanges still face fragmented regulation and significant room for user adoption. While the U.S. remains a core audience, Kraken is increasingly eyeing regions where regulatory clarity is stronger and competition less entrenched.

A sector with a mixed record on public markets

Kraken’s pursuit of an IPO comes as part of a broader wave of bitcoin-linked companies moving toward the public market. Coinbase set the precedent when it listed in 2021, and exchanges such as Gemini and Bullish later followed. Their initial debuts were strong, but the subsequent years have been more turbulent. Both Gemini and Bullish have seen their share prices fall sharply from their peaks, a reminder that public markets have little patience for hype when revenue growth slows or trading volumes dip.

The volatility speaks to a larger truth. Crypto exchanges operate in an industry where sentiment shifts quickly and dramatically. Retail interest, regulatory action, token prices and macroeconomic conditions all funnel directly into trading activity, the lifeblood of most exchanges’ business models. Public shareholders expect predictable earnings. Crypto markets rarely provide them.

A test of Wall Street’s appetite for crypto risk

That is the backdrop Kraken will have to navigate. The exchange enters the IPO pipeline at a moment when interest in bitcoin has rebounded but skepticism about crypto companies’ long-term stability persists. Investors who were once dazzled by growth projections are now more focused on operational discipline, regulatory compliance and consistent revenue.

For Kraken, the pitch will revolve around scale, longevity and diversification. The company is one of the oldest major exchanges in the sector, with a reputation for conservative risk management and a smaller footprint in controversial business lines. That gives it a certain credibility at a time when both regulators and investors have grown less tolerant of flashy experiments and more interested in resilience.

Yet the challenges are impossible to ignore. Companies such as Coinbase enjoyed enormous attention when they listed, only to face the reality of public markets where share prices track quarterly performance rather than cultural relevance. Kraken is entering a more mature — and more demanding — environment.

The next big crypto listing

If the SEC’s review proceeds smoothly and market conditions hold, Kraken could become the most significant crypto IPO since Coinbase. It will test whether Wall Street still sees long-term value in exchanges whose revenues are tied to the volatile rhythms of bitcoin and its peers.

For now, Kraken has capital in hand, regulatory clearance in its rear-view mirror and a plan to expand aggressively. The draft S-1 signals that the company believes the window for a crypto listing is open again. Whether that window stays open long enough for a successful debut is the question that will define Kraken’s next chapter.