Since Bitcoin’s 2009 launch, crypto has been a private-market story. For more than a decade, exchanges, stablecoin issuers, and custody firms raised billions in venture rounds while avoiding Wall Street’s glare. That changed in summer 2025.
In just 10 weeks, crypto firms raised nearly $2 billion in U.S. listings. Bullish led the pack, raising $1.11 billion at a $13.16 billion valuation, with Circle’s IPO doubled on debut. Alongside them, Gemini, BitGo, Figure Technology Solutions and Grayscale are moving to list, making up the core group of IPOs to watch in the wake of the GENIUS Act. For an industry once thought allergic to public markets, the shift is striking. And the bigger question: why now?
6 Crypto Firms Announcing IPOs to Know
- Bullish
- Circle
- Gemini
- BitGo
- Figure Technology Solutions
- Grayscale
Markets have steadied, institutional capital is circling back, and, crucially, the GENIUS Act has given crypto companies the disclosure framework they long lacked. Together, these forces suggest the sector is ready to trade the shadows of private capital for the scrutiny of public markets.
Whether this proves durable will decide if crypto’s IPO moment is a breakthrough or just a market blip.
The Drivers Behind the IPO Rush
The truth is, crypto’s IPO boom is the first time all three prerequisites have lined up: open markets, predictable rules and serious investors.
On the market side, the backdrop is favorable. Bitcoin has climbed nearly 32 percent this year, the Nasdaq about 13 percent, and broader multiples have reopened the space for growth stories. That matters because public offerings don’t succeed in a vacuum. They need valuations that give bankers confidence a deal will clear and investors’ cover to take on new paper.
Policy, though, is the real game-changer. The GENIUS Act supplied the first federal disclosure template for crypto, with reserve rules and audit requirements that turned vague promises into measurable obligations. In effect, it replaced uncertainty with costs that investors can model. So, underwriters can defend.
Institutional demand closed the loop. Bullish’s IPO, more than twenty-times oversubscribed and priced above range, signals that real money is finished waiting for regulation someday. It’s voting now, and peers won’t be far behind.
Put together, these forces move crypto IPOs out of the rumor mill and into reality. And the question that follows is simple: Did the GENIUS Act merely frame the doorway, or did it strike the match that lit this wave?
The GENIUS Act: Catalyst or Context?
Every IPO wave has a trigger, and now the GENIUS Act is the obvious candidate. By setting out formal disclosure rules, such as reserve segregation, monthly audits and AML rails, it gave crypto firms something priceless: the ability to model compliance with precision. So, for boards debating an S-1, that’s the difference between guessing at costs and signing off with confidence. In that sense, the Act was a catalyst.
But context matters too. Crypto couldn’t have reached Wall Street on a single statute. ETF approvals earlier this year opened doors for institutional capital, state regimes like New York’s BitLicense keep granting new approvals, and a friendlier tone from Washington changed perception from “hostile” to “cautious acceptance.” All this clearly signals: public markets are no longer off-limits.
The litmus test is Circle. As a stablecoin issuer, it lives directly under the Act’s framework, and it was among the first to list. That’s not a coincidence. For firms whose entire business rests on regulated reserves, GENIUS is the green light.
So, was the Act the spark or just scaffolding? Probably both. It anchored the first movers while the broader policy environment kept sentiment positive. Although without GENIUS, the IPO moment would risk being just a memo.
Who’s Really Ready to Ring the Bell
Importantly, not every crypto business is built for the IPO stage. Exchanges might look like they sit in the pole position, but most are still far from public-market standards. They may have limited disclosure, uneven governance, and offshore structures that leave transparency gaps. In truth, only a few names that already run with U.S.-grade controls can reasonably clear the IPO bar. For the rest, “IPO-ready exchange” remains more aspiration than fact.
That puts infrastructure players like custody firms and settlement networks in a visible lead. And their appeal is simple: nobody trades, settles, or stores assets without them. Recurring SaaS contracts, sticky integration hooks and margins that outperform most fintechs make them look more like cash-flow utilities than crypto plays. That means if IPO investors seek predictability, custody rails have it in spades.
As for consumer-facing hybrids, they’re still on probation. Yes, payment super-apps and “crypto-for-the-masses” wallets boast big user numbers, but a large share of their revenue still fluctuates with market mood. That’s why, unless they can show diversified income and provide clean reporting, Wall Street could keep labeling them “promising, but prove it.”
In the end, only firms with audited reserves, multi-line revenue, and margins above sector averages will clear the IPO bar. Given that, custody and core-infrastructure firms already look like varsity starters, while a few better-governed exchanges may follow. The consumer apps? They still have another season of conditioning before they’re championship-ready.
Can the Crypto IPO Run Hold?
IPO windows never stay open forever, and the only question is how long this one lasts.
In my view, the durability of this particular IPO wave comes down to two paths. In the first, markets hold their footing, and the GENIUS Act provides a stable rulebook. So, companies professionalize, auditors sign off, and filings keep flowing. In that world, crypto’s step onto Wall Street looks less like a one-off stunt and more like the start of a long season.
The second path is harsher. A policy reversal or a sharp market drawdown would cool sentiment fast. In that case, valuations would deflate, the IPO pipeline would thin, and the “class of ‘25” could end up remembered as just an exception.
Either way, the GENIUS Act cracked the door, but only discipline will keep it open. Exchanges must close the gaps they still have, infrastructure firms must raise their governance game, and regulators need to resist the temptation to over-correct. Miss that balance and the window slams shut. Strike it, and crypto finally takes a lasting seat in mainstream finance.
