2026 Crypto IPO Boom Loses Steam as Consensys, Ledger and Kraken Put Listings on Hold

A more favorable regulatory climate in 2025 and Bitcoin's rise to as high as $126,000 helped drive listings by companies including Circle, Bullish and Gemini. Crypto-related IPOs raised about $14.6 billion during the year, while venture capital deals totaled $19.7 billion. But falling cryptocurrency prices, shrinking trading volumes and a shift in capital toward AI quickly depressed valuations and companies' appetite to go public.

On March 18, 2026, Kraken parent Payward paused its IPO, citing difficult market conditions. The company had confidentially filed an S-1 in November 2025 and initially targeted a $20 billion valuation, but its valuation in a recent funding round fell to $13.3 billion. Ledger shelved a U.S. listing at a $4 billion valuation on May 13, and MetaMask developer Consensys delayed its IPO the following day until the autumn at the earliest.