Kraken boss Arjun Sethi says company won’t ‘race to the door’ to get an IPO done

Crypto firms have been some of the biggest names that have flocked to this year’s IPO market, but major US exchange Kraken (KRAK.PVT) is one industry firm that’s in no hurry to dive into that world.

“We have enough capital on our balance sheet today as a private company, and we don’t want to race to the door as quickly as possible,” Arjun Sethi, Kraken’s co-CEO, said during an interview at Yahoo Finance’s Invest event.

Sethi said he’s also wary of any kind of perception that the company should go public “just because everyone else is doing it.” He added, “What’s good about these companies coming out first is that they are educating the market on what’s good and what’s bad, what margin looks like, how do you make money…”

Arguably one of the oldest crypto exchanges around and formally known as Payward Ventures, Kraken has operated since 2011. As of the end of last year, it had only taken $27 million in primary outside capital.

That changed earlier this year when the company quietly raised $500 million from private investors, including Apollo Global Management, Oppenheimer, and Jane Street in a funding round that valued the crypto firm at $15 billion, according to a report from Fortune. (Disclosure: Yahoo Finance is owned by Apollo Global Management.)

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The company is currently considering another round for between $200 million and $300 million at a $20 billion valuation, according to a Bloomberg report from late September.

While Kraken may not have plans to raise funds in the public market anytime soon, the company has begun publicly sharing its financials in recent quarters.

Last month, it reported that revenue doubled over the third quarter from the year-ago period to $648 million, while its trading platform saw $562 billion in transaction volume for that same period.

Crypto firms have flocked to this year’s IPO market, including stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL), Winklevoss exchange Gemini Space Station (GEMI), Bullish (BLSH), and Figure Technology (FIGR).

All their stocks have seen red over the past month as crypto prices have witnessed a fierce correction in valuations after striking highs earlier this year.

Since its blockbuster debut this summer, Circle’s stock is up 22% year to date, while blockchain-based lending platform Figure is down 4%. Meanwhile, crypto exchanges Bullish and Gemini are down 56% and 66%, respectively.

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Crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments moved to join its peers by filing its S-1 prospectus on Thursday.

Following the US government’s shutdown, which has slowed the pace at which companies can work with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to go public, there aren’t many more great weeks for IPOs left in 2025, according to Matthew Kennedy, a senior strategist with Renaissance Capital.