The latest sign a crypto IPO boom might be coming

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Trading platform eToro filed for an IPO yesterday, amid expectations that more crypto-related businesses will list on exchanges in the coming months. 

The company’s filing with the SEC comes after eToro in September paid $1.5 million to the regulator to settle charges that it was operating as an unregistered broker (in connection with its crypto trading platform). What a difference a few months makes.

It also comes as crypto exchange Kraken is reportedly looking to raise $1 billion in debt before a possible IPO, unnamed sources told Bloomberg News.  

eToro reported 23 million crypto trades during the fourth quarter of 2024 — up from 9 million the quarter before. Roughly $12.1 billion of its $12.6 billion in 2024 revenue came from crypto trading. 

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said during a conference in February that he expects “a whole host of [crypto] companies” listing on the NYSE or the Nasdaq in May or June. His company has been trying to go public in the US for more than four years. 

At last week’s Digital Asset Summit, 10T Holdings CEO Dan Tapiero said he’s expecting “a crypto IPO, M&A, SPAC boom” — noting that 10 or so of the companies in which his firm invests could potentially go public in the next few years. 

Tapiero added that wider adoption and ownership of crypto companies via listing on exchanges was a “mini step” before more value moves onchain.

He noted: “American investors like to own businesses with cash flow, balance sheets, income statements, a proper board — and also legitimacy.”

A January survey found that 25% of financial advisers interested in crypto exposure wanted to gain that exposure via equity ETFs (the highest of any method).   

At the Exchange ETF conference, TMX VettaFi investment strategist Cinthia Murphy highlighted this stat on stage. She noted in a space that is complicated for many, crypto equities are “maybe a little bit easier to understand…[with] company valuations and fundamentals.”

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