In 2026, the upcoming cryptocurrency company IPOs

Core Viewpoint

Deep Tide TechFlow

2026-01-29 12:44:13

Collection

The "water sellers" of the cryptocurrency industry are collectively heading to the public market.

Written by: David, Deep Tide TechFlow

In 2025, crypto companies raised $3.4 billion in the U.S. stock market.

Circle and Bullish each raised over $1 billion, and Gemini's first day on Nasdaq saw a 14% increase. By January 2026, BitGo rang the bell on the NYSE, with a first-day increase of 24.6% and a market capitalization of $2.6 billion.

These pioneers have proven one thing: Wall Street is willing to pay for compliant crypto infrastructure.

The pipeline for 2026 is thicker. Kraken, Consensys, and Ledger are all lining up to go public, with valuations ranging from tens of billions to $20 billion. Even CertiK, which conducts security audits, announced its IPO plans in Davos.

Exchanges, wallets, custody, security… the "water sellers" of the crypto industry are collectively heading to the public market.

When will these companies go public, what will their valuations be, and what are the risks? Let's take a look one by one.

1. Kraken, a Compliance Model Valued at $20 Billion

Estimated Market Cap: $20 billion

Estimated Time: First half of 2026

Kraken is one of the oldest exchanges in the crypto industry, founded in 2011, a year earlier than Coinbase. However, its IPO timing is five years later than Coinbase. During this time gap, it faced an SEC lawsuit, settlement negotiations, and business restructuring, ultimately receiving a dismissal from the SEC in March 2025.

The financial data is also solid:

In 2024, revenue reached $1.5 billion, with adjusted EBITDA exceeding $400 million. In Q3 2025, quarterly revenue was $648 million, a 50% year-on-year increase. The platform manages assets worth $59.3 billion, with quarterly trading volume of $576.8 billion.

In November 2025, Kraken completed an $800 million pre-IPO financing, valuing the company at $20 billion. The list of investors includes Citadel Securities, Jane Street, and DRW. The entry of these top traditional financial market makers indicates their bet that crypto exchanges will become part of financial infrastructure.

In the same month, Kraken secretly submitted its S-1. The goal is to go public in the first half of 2026.

If successful, it will become the second mainstream crypto exchange to go public in the U.S. stock market after Coinbase, and the first company to complete the full IPO process in the "post-Gensler era."

2. Consensys, the Parent Company of MetaMask Aiming for IPO

Estimated Market Cap: $7 billion (2022 valuation)

Estimated Time: Mid-2026

Consensys owns some of the most valuable products in the crypto industry: the MetaMask wallet with 30 million monthly active users, Infura node services supporting most Ethereum dApps, and the Linea L2 network. It acts as the "pipeline worker" of the Ethereum ecosystem, with nearly all developers using its tools.

Founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, Consensys was valued at $7 billion during a $450 million funding round in 2022. It is currently preparing for an IPO in collaboration with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, targeting mid-2026.

The prospectus is expected to highlight the revenue from MetaMask Swaps, a feature that allows users to trade tokens directly within the wallet, charging a fee of 0.875% per transaction. In 2025, MetaMask also added native Bitcoin support, expanding from a pure EVM wallet to a multi-chain wallet, attempting to keep users within its ecosystem.

The suspense around Consensys's IPO lies in its simultaneous efforts to launch the MASK token and the IPO. How will these two initiatives be coordinated? Will there be conflicts of interest between token holders and shareholders? This question could become a new case in crypto company governance.