Kraken, Consensys, and Ledger prepare major IPO pushes in 2026

More digital asset businesses are preparing to raise billions in capital via initial public offerings (IPOs). This is coming off the back of a successful 2025, where crypto firms raised up to $3.4 billion in IPOs.

US exchange Kraken, crypto infrastructure giant Consensys, and French hardware wallet maker Ledger are among the companies preparing themselves for public debuts or major funding rounds in 2026.

The current pro-crypto stance of the White House and the signing into law of the GENIUS Act, which has provided some form of regulatory clarity, especially in the stablecoin space, has encouraged many crypto companies that may have had cold feet in the past to come forward with their IPO ambitions.

Industry experts have attributed this to giving compliant companies an extra boost to go forward with their ambitious plans, as seen from this year’s IPOs.

Kraken leads the charge with a $20 billion valuation.

US crypto exchange Kraken is set to become one of the biggest IPOs in the digital asset sector after filing an S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2025. The firm is targeting a public debut in the first half of 2026, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kraken secured a $20 billion valuation following an $800 million funding round led by institutional investors, including Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, HSG, Oppenheimer Alternative Investment Management, and Tribe Capital. This also includes $200 million from Citadel Securities.

The firm’s compliance-first strategy has been central to its expansion, including obtaining a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license in Europe and launching derivatives trading. 

Kraken has also entered the decentralized finance space through strategic acquisitions, one of which is the $1.5 billion purchase of trading platform NinjaTrader, and another is the $100 million acquisition of Small Exchange. The firm also recently agreed to acquire Backed Finance, the tokenized asset issuer behind its xStocks product, bringing the issuer in-house ahead of its planned 2026 listing.

Consensys eyes mid-year debut with Wall Street backing

Consensys, the blockchain infrastructure firm behind MetaMask wallet, has enlisted JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs to lead a potential IPO targeting mid-2026, according to reports.

Founded in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, Consensys operates MetaMask, which serves more than 30 million monthly users, alongside Infura node infrastructure and the Linea layer 2 network. The company was last valued at $7 billion in a 2022 funding round that raised $450 million.

Consensys has moved away from being just another software studio to a high-margin infrastructure provider, with MetaMask adding native Bitcoin support to consolidate its position as a multi-chain wallet.

Ledger explores New York listing

French hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger is preparing to raise capital through either a New York IPO or a private financing round in 2026. Chief Executive Officer Pascal Gauthier said the Paris-based firm generated triple-digit million-dollar revenues in 2025 as demand for crypto security devices went up.

Ledger currently safeguards roughly $100 billion worth of Bitcoin for clients, according to the CEO, and was last valued at $1.5 billion in a 2023 funding round that was led by 10T Holdings and saw participation from investors such as Cathay Innovation, Draper Esprit, Draper Associates, and Tekne Capital, among others.

In November, Gauthier told the Financial Times that he is spending more time in New York because “money is in New York today for crypto; it’s nowhere else in the world, certainly not in Europe.”

Ledger faces competition from Czech Republic-based Trezor and Switzerland-based Tangem in the hardware wallet market. The company recently expanded its offerings with an iOS app for enterprise customers and launched native TRON support.

The success of 2025 listings by stablecoin issuer Circle and trading platform Bullish, which both raised over $1 billion, has further validated investor appetite for crypto-related equities.

Other notable IPO candidates include BitGo, the Goldman Sachs-backed crypto custodian that filed an updated S-1 in late 2025, aiming for a first-quarter 2026 listing.

Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands is also in the race and is expected to list on Nasdaq via a reverse merger with Currenc Group. There is also the South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb, which plans to list on the South Korean stock exchange.

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