Kraken in $100M Pre-IPO Discussions, Potential Year-End Completion

After years of consideration, Kraken is in talks about a potential $100 million pre-IPO raise.

The crypto exchange reportedly received interest from potential investors amid the recent digital asset market rally.

“We are always exploring strategic paths toward Kraken’s Mission: accelerating the global adoption of crypto,” Kraken said in a statement. “We remain fully focused on investing in this goal.”

Completion could happen by the end of 2024 with the IPO being launched as early as 2025.

Kraken has been searching for a “marquee” company to join its board to help with the IPO but the source said only verbal exchanges have occurred thus far.

A potential IPO has been on the cards for Kraken - one of the oldest crypto exchanges - for several years.

In November 2023, the exchange clashed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which launched a significant enforcement action against it.

The charges against Kraken stemmed from allegations that the exchange has been offering and selling unregistered securities through its staking-as-a-service program.

The SEC contended that Kraken's program, which allows customers to earn rewards by staking their crypto assets, constitutes an offer and sale of securities, thus falling under the regulatory purview of the commission.

Coinbase, which faced similar charges from the SEC, went public through a direct listing in 2021. The exchange is forecast to have revenue of $5.9 billion. Kraken's expected revenue is $1 billion to $2 billion this year.