Powell revealed that Kraken now has eyes set on a more traditional initial public offering (IPO) describing the firm’s stance on the plan as ‘very serious’ as they look to avoid any potential issue should they go public via a direct listing.
Jesse Powell, the Chief executive of Kraken is reportedly contemplating the cryptocurrency exchange’s plan to debut on the public scene. Powell, speaking to reporters on June 11, stated that the plan of Kraken to go public with a listing scheduled for late 2022 is under serious deliberation in wake of the lackluster performance of Coinbase stock (COIN) since it was launched on April 14.
Powell revealed that Kraken now has eyes set on a more traditional initial public offering (IPO) describing the firm’s stance on the plan as ‘very serious’ as they look to avoid any potential issue should they go public via a direct listing. The CEO added that the firm has somewhat benefited from seeing the state of Coinbase after its direct listing. “Not having lock-ups, having billions of dollars of insiders be able to dump their shares, you know, on day one. I think it has a dampening effect on the market,” Powell told reporters, adding that an IPO is different as it entails another process.
Kraken’s public listing plans begun in March after Coinbase revealed similar plans to pursue a direct listing on the Nasdaq. Powell, subsequently in April hinted at the firm potentially looking to go public sometime in 2022. The CEO once again reaffirmed that he hopes to make a public debut in the second half of 2022 and stated that, either a direct listing or an IPO could be the way.
According to the CEO, Kraken will have the benefit of a more experienced market that could create better conditions for other crypto businesses looking to make debuts. “Hopefully Kraken will have more analyst coverage out, and there’s just more of a track record of growth for the industry that people feel like they can rely on,” he stated. When asked about a Special purpose acquisition, Powell stated that that might have been possible a few years back but described the firm as too big now to consider doing a SPAC.
Powell highlighted COIN’s poor performance and linked it to the current anti-crypto sentiment around the traditional finance scene and Wall Street. Coinbase’s highly anticipated stock COIN debuted on April 14 with a price of around $327 but has failed to make an impact in the market and was trading at $224.84 at press time, down 3.31% in the past 24 hours. According to the CEO, there a lot of players that “actually have a lot to lose” from the success of crypto, and added that such players will oppose it for “as long as possible.”
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