Crypto exchange Blockchain.com has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, becoming the latest crypto company to seek a public listing. Meanwhile, Ripple remains on the sidelines and has not indicated plans to go public anytime soon.
Crypto Exchange Files For IPO As Ripple Remains On The Sidelines
According to a Reuters report, Blockchain.com has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO with the SEC, officially kickstarting the process for the crypto company to go public. The company joins the likes of Grayscale and fellow crypto exchange Kraken, which are also seeking to go public in the U.S.
Notably, Blockchain.com could become the fifth crypto exchange to go public in the U.S., joining Robinhood, Coinbase, Bullish, and Gemini. The move to confidentially file for an IPO opens up a regulatory review process that could take at least two to three months before the company moves ahead with its listing plans.
This could give the company enough time to plan towards a listing when the crypto market recovers. Crypto firms Consensys and Ledger have held off on their IPO plans due to market conditions and are looking to go public once conditions improve. As such, Blockchain.com could make a similar move to secure sufficient funding during the listing.
Blockchain.com said that it has not yet determined the number of shares that it will offer or the price range for the proposed offering. This information will, however, be available once the crypto company files the registration statement for its IPO with the SEC. It will also include other key information, such as the ticker and the exchange on which it plans to list.
It is also worth noting that these crypto firms join the likes of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and OpenAI, which are eyeing public listings. SpaceX could go public as soon as next month at a valuation of up to $1.75 trillion, making it the largest public IPO in history.
Ripple Still Has No Plans To Go Public
Ripple has so far signaled that it has no plans to go public even as other crypto firms eye public listings. Speaking at the XRP conference, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said there are no plans for an immediate listing, with the focus on institutional adoption as they look to onboard more institutions to their services.
However, in the meantime, crypto prediction market platform Polymarket has launched prediction markets that provide retail investors with a way to gain exposure to private companies like Ripple. These prediction markets are expected to track valuation milestones, IPO timing, and secondary-market activity. Garlinghouse revealed that Ripple is currently valued at around $50 billion, based on its latest share buyback in May.
