Ionic Digital Nasdaq debut: direct listing lifts 26%

Ionic Digital Nasdaq debut surged 26% after its Nasdaq direct listing, the exchange’s largest since 2021. The stock opened at $50 and closed at $62.90, valuing the company at about $2.8 billion. For Celsius Network bankruptcy claimholders, the listing creates an exit route without new listing-driven capital. Ionic Digital issued about 37 million Class A shares to eligible Celsius-related claimholders. A prior June private placement raised $400 million via convertible preferred shares and warrants; the preferred shares convert into common stock once the listing is completed. A lock-up restricts transfers below $70 until six months after listing. Operationally, Ionic Digital has shifted from bitcoin mining to AI compute infrastructure. It decommissioned its Ward County, Texas mining site in December and allocated 234MW of capacity to Nscale under a 126-month lease tied to $1.95B in contracted revenue. The company projected up to $195M in revenue for the year, with over 90% from infrastructure leasing. As of March 31, it held 2,815.6 BTC and reported no debt. Ionic Digital Nasdaq debut can increase attention on Celsius-legacy equity and the miner-to-AI infrastructure theme, but any immediate market moves are more likely to be stock-volatility driven rather than a direct BTC catalyst.