Blockchain.com Seeks $4 Billion to $6 Billion Valuation in…

Blockchain.com is preparing to test public-market demand for its shares, with the crypto exchange and wallet provider reportedly seeking to raise about $500 million in a US initial public offering this year. People familiar with the plans said the company is discussing a valuation in the $4 billion to $6 billion range, and that it could scale back the deal if needed to get it done.

The process began quietly in May, when Blockchain.com submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on a confidential basis. At that point no share count, price range or target valuation was disclosed. The confidential route lets the company resolve SEC comments before publishing detailed financials and formally marketing the deal, leaving the listing subject to both regulatory review and market conditions.

A wide gap to private-market pricing

The proposed range sits well below the $14 billion valuation attached to Blockchain.com in a March 2022 private funding round, near the top of the last crypto financing boom. A $6 billion valuation would be about 57% lower than that peak, while the bottom of the range implies a decline of roughly 71%. The company has already been through that repricing: its value dropped sharply after the 2022 crypto downturn, which included the failure of Three Arrows Capital and roughly $270 million of exposure for Blockchain.com. It went on to raise $110 million in 2023 at a much reduced valuation, and had also explored a SPAC route before opting for a conventional IPO.

The backdrop has improved since the May filing. Bitcoin has climbed more than 30% from mid-August levels after expanded US Treasury buybacks helped push long-term yields lower and revived appetite for risk assets, lifting crypto-linked equities and spot Bitcoin ETFs. Investors have nonetheless grown pickier about newly listed crypto names. Gemini, BitGo and eToro have all traded substantially below their post-IPO highs, and BitGo gave back most of a first-day gain that reached as much as 36% at its January debut.

Attention will now turn to the public version of Blockchain.com's registration statement, which should reveal revenue growth, profitability, trading activity, institutional performance and operating costs. The company says it has created more than 95 million wallets, serves over 43 million verified users and has processed more than $1.1 trillion in crypto transactions since being founded in 2011. The final size of the offering will also signal whether management prioritises completing a listing in the current window over maximising proceeds.