Kraken has taken its first formal step toward becoming a publicly traded company in the United States. The crypto exchange confirmed that it has filed a confidential draft S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), beginning the review process required before an initial public offering.
The company has not yet decided how many shares it plans to offer or what the price range will be. These details will only be finalized once the SEC reviews the draft filing and provides feedback. After that, Kraken will submit a public S-1 with full information about the offering, including the share count, expected price range, ticker symbol, and the exchange on which it intends to list.
Kraken’s move comes as several major crypto firms, including Grayscale and BitGo, have also filed for U.S. IPOs. Earlier this year, companies such as Circle, Bullish, and Gemini successfully completed their public offerings, all of which were oversubscribed—showing growing institutional appetite for crypto-related equities.
The IPO announcement follows a major new funding milestone for Kraken. The exchange recently closed a $200 million investment led by Citadel Securities, valuing the company at $20 billion. This investment was part of a larger $800 million raise aimed at accelerating Kraken’s push to bring traditional financial products on-chain. Other major backers included Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, HSG, Oppenheimer Alternative Investment Management, and Tribe Capital, with participation from Co-CEO Arjun Sethi’s family office.
This latest valuation marks a significant jump from just two months ago, when Kraken raised $500 million at a $15 billion valuation. The company also revealed that it generated $1.5 billion in revenue in 2024 and has already surpassed that figure in the first three quarters of this year, strengthening its position ahead of a likely public listing in 2026.
