• Bakeoff expected to occur sometime after 1 August
• Passage of STABLE and GENIUS bills key to listing
• Wants to expand in Southeast Asia, Latin America

Kraken is taking a measured approach to an initial public offering, with co-CEO Arjun Sethi emphasizing the cryptocurrency exchange will move forward once there is sufficient clarity on US regulation around the asset class.

The crypto exchange is engaging in discussions with banks about a potential IPO, but has not yet mandated any institutions, Sethi told this news service in an interview.

A formal selection process for IPO underwriters — often referred to as a “bakeoff” — is likely to take place sometime after the beginning of August, he said.

“We’ll have a better understanding after we know the regulatory structure,” Sethi said.

“We are better off operating privately until then. We don’t want to be subject to the whims of public markets until there is more business certainty,” the executive said.

Despite remaining private for now, Sethi said Kraken is taking steps that mirror public company behavior, including securing credit ratings, accessing debt markets, and reporting its financials on a quarterly basis.

PwC is providing auditing services to Kraken in preparation for an IPO, Sethi added.

In January, the San Francisco-based firm reported USD 1.5bn in revenue for 2024, reflecting a 128% increase from the prior year, and USD 424m in adjusted EBITDA.

Earlier this month, Kraken said it generated USD 472m in gross revenue for 1Q 2025 and adjusted EBITDA of USD 187m. This marked a 19% year-over-year revenue increase, despite what it said was a downturn in market trading activity following a robust 4Q.

One of the world’s largest digital asset exchanges, Kraken, is reportedly working with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to raise between USD 200m and USD 1bn in debt financing, alongside a potential equity capital raise, to support growth.

The timing of Kraken’s IPO deliberations coincides with increased legislative activity in Washington around digital asset regulation. President Trump’s administration is pushing to approve two pieces of legislation — the STABLE Act and the GENIUS Act — before Congress recesses in August. Both bills aim to provide a regulatory framework for stablecoins and digital asset markets, areas where Kraken is actively involved.

The STABLE Act, introduced in the House, and the GENIUS Act, introduced in the Senate, propose licensing regimes and consumer protections for stablecoin issuers.

A clear regulatory environment would be a pivotal development not just for Kraken’s IPO plans, but for the US crypto industry as a whole, according to a sector advisor.

New York-based Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, updated its IPO paperwork this week to reflect it is targeting a valuation of USD 6.7bn in an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

The advisor said Circle will be a close comparable for Kraken alongside Nasdaq-listed Coinbase, which is the largest crypto exchange in the US.

A listing late this year, or in early 2026, is a plausible timeline for Kraken, the advisor said.

While it positions itself for the public markets, Kraken is actively exploring acquisitions as part of its global growth plan, Sethi said.

It seeks engineering talent, complementary products, and licenses, he said. “We’re looking for talent or overlapping products that we care about,” Sethi said. “Licensing is a part of that.”

Kraken’s M&A strategy is tailored by region, with Southeast Asia being the primary target for acquiring operations and exchanges, while its interest in Latin America is more focused on licensing exchange technology rather than acquiring firms outright, the co-CEO stated.

Sethi noted that Kraken will use standard crypto industry valuation multiples when acquiring other exchanges. However, acquisitions centered on teams or technology will be assessed differently, depending on their scale and its strategic needs, he said.

While Kraken is satisfied with its existing product suite, Sethi left the door open for opportunistic deals. “If we see a product superior to ours, then we would be interested in acquiring that business. But right now, only the bigger crypto exchanges have those products,” he said.

In March, Kraken agreed to acquire US retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for USD 1.5bn. The deal expands Kraken’s leadership in both traditional equity and crypto markets and supports its mission to build an institutional-grade trading platform for a variety of financial assets. Kraken said it was the largest-ever transaction combining traditional finance with crypto.

Over the years, Kraken has made many other acquisitions including crypto broker Coin Meester in the Netherlands in 2023, and Staked, a Massachusetts-based non-custodial staking platform, in 2021.

Founded by Jesse Powell and Thanh Luu in 2011, Kraken was one of the first digital asset exchanges to offer spot trading with margin, regulated derivatives, and index services. It continues to roll out new products and features, recently debuting a new consumer app, a borderless payments offering, and a rewards program.

According to the company’s website, Kraken has only raised about USD 27m in primary capital from investors that include SBI Investment and Money Partners Group in Japan; Hummingbird Ventures in London; and Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, and Tribe Capital in the US.