根據向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的一份機密文件，總部位於美國的穩定幣發行商 Circle 正在再次考慮上市。 這將是這家大型加密貨幣公司在與特殊目的收購公司（SPAC）合併的最初計劃於 2021 年失敗後第二次嘗試公開上市。
這是 Node 時事通訊的摘錄，該通訊是 CoinDesk 及其他領域最關鍵的加密貨幣新聞的每日綜述。 您可以在此處訂閱以獲取完整的新聞通訊。
隨著加密貨幣在經濟走強的情況下反彈，今年區塊鏈領域的投資資金和潛在的首次公開發行似乎有望反彈。 儘管已經存在了 15 年，但加密貨幣領域的上市公司卻非常少。
去年 12 月，高盛預測 2024 年下半年 IPO 活動將會更加強勁，特別是如果聯準會降息，這將降低交易成本並刺激經濟。
這裡存在著許多潛在的障礙，包括美國總統選舉、國會內訌、戰爭和通貨膨脹，但正如高盛所說，“當金融市場強勁時，公開發行往往會強勁”，而且越來越明顯的是，加密貨幣市場正在走強。
此外，隨著昨天現貨比特幣交易所交易基金（ETF）的推出，加密貨幣正在進入一個更成熟的階段。 許多公司已經籌集了大量資金，而最古老公司的創投支持者（通常工作期限為 10 年）可能正在尋求回報。
另請參閱：2022 年歐洲加密新創公司在創投中籌集了創紀錄的 5.7B 美元
此外，由於經濟不確定性揮之不去，如果加密貨幣市場在短期內保持高位，這可能代表在經濟低迷之前上市的機會之窗。 Coinbase 於 2021 年初直接上市，作為上一輪牛市期間少數的上市公司之一，可能具有代表性。
誰可能首次公開發行？
加密貨幣領域有十幾家「獨角獸」或估值超過 10 億美元的私人公司，它們是最有可能進行 IPO 的候選人。 有些人可能更願意保持私有狀態，這樣可以提供更高水準的公司控制權並減少審查。 但總的來說，如果一家公司籌集外部資金，投資者最有可能「退出」的兩種方式要么是公開上市，要么是破產。
CoinDesk 對其中許多公司進行了分析，以確定哪些公司可以宣布今年的上市計劃。 這是一個代表性的列表，而不是完整的列表，旨在讓您了解起作用的因素。 這些交易可能會集中在交易所、託管和穩定幣領域，所有這些領域在加密貨幣反彈期間都具有巨大的成長潛力。
In November, Kraken CEO Dave Ripley said the firm was strongly considering going public. It previously took initial steps by initiating a review by the SEC, which after a year didn’t declare Kraken an “effective” candidate. Since then, however, The Block reported Kraken has filled its C-suite with seasoned executives experienced in public offerings, including Chief Compliance Officer C.J. Rinaldi and Chief Financial Officer Carrie Dolan.
Kraken was last valued at just under $11 billion, and also boasts one of the strongest legal/compliance units in the industry, headed up by lawyer Marco Santori.
Working against Kraken is a lawsuit brought last year by the SEC, the agency that will have to approve its public listing. It’s worth noting several other exchanges and brokerages, including Israel-based eToro and CoinDesk’s parent company Bullish, explored going public but were blocked by the SEC. Bitpanda, in the E.U., and Bitso, in Mexico, should also be watched, if expanding the conversation beyond U.S. markets.
In the crypto custody sector, competitors Anchorage and BitGo are also likely exploring public listings. Both firms, considered leaders in the field, have expanded out beyond their core crypto custody businesses, including other security services as well as the buzzy-area of tokenization.
“Anchorage Digital serves a global roster of institutions with safe and secure digital asset infrastructure. Our client base includes asset managers, registered investment advisors, crypto protocols, venture capital firms, and more,” a spokesperson told CoinDesk in an email, sidestepping the question about going public.
BitGo was founded in 2013, and was valued at $1.75 billion during a 2023 Series C raise – a low enough valuation where a SPAC merger might be possible. Meanwhile, Anchorage, which is also a federally-chartered bank, was last valued at $3 billion.
See also: BitGo Buys Crypto Wealth Management Platform HeightZero
The third-largest stablecoin issuer, Paxos, may also be a contender to go public. Paxos is the go-to issuer for third parties looking to create branded stablecoins. For instance, it is the issuer of PayPal’s recently launched PYUSD token and the since discontinued BUSD coin for Binance. Stablecoins have emerged as one of the clearest uses for blockchain.
There are plenty of other companies to name and emerging sectors in the space. There are several large and long-established blockchain hardware firms, including Ledger and Trezor, payments technology firms like Ripple and BitPay, as well as financial service providers like Bitwise that could be considering a public stock offering.
除了強大的公司治理之外，要尋找的關鍵因素是市場契合度和成長潛力。 Chainaanalysis 擁有大量政府合同，今年也可能處於上市的有利地位。 值得注意的是，在現有的加密貨幣上市公司中，大多數都涉及加密貨幣挖礦，部分原因是這是一個現金流最容易預測的行業，儘管比特幣價格波動很大。
最後一個想法是，我認為復活的 FTX 可能會嘗試上市——即使只是因為還有誰會資助它？
「一切都取決於 Circle 的 IPO 進度如何。 如果進展順利，許多其他公司可能會對此進行探索。」德爾福數位執行長阿尼爾·魯拉 (Anil Lulla) 表示。
