Kraken, the US cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Wyoming, announced the confidential filing of a draft registration statement for a proposed initial public offering, following months of speculation among many in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
In a Wednesday notice, Kraken said it had confidentially submitted a Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed IPO of its common stock, setting the groundwork for the company to go public. Kraken noted that the IPO was still subject to review by the SEC, which recently returned to full operations and staffing after a 43-day government shutdown.
Background on IPO Plans
The filing came less than a week after Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi gave an interview in which he said the exchange wasn’t “rac[ing] to the door as quickly as possible” to go public. Reports had been circulating since 2024 suggesting that Kraken was planning an IPO, but the company had largely not responded to the speculation until Wednesday.
Industry Precedents for Public Offerings
Other US-based crypto exchanges like Gemini went public in 2025, while Coinbase was one of the early movers, having an IPO in 2021. On Thursday, Grayscale Investments announced its own Form S-1 filing, about four months after the asset manager had filed confidentially for an initial public offering.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.