Kraken Eyes $20B Valuation Ahead of IPO with Wall Street Backing
Kraken is in talks to raise an additional $200–300 million in a pre-IPO funding round, targeting a $20 billion valuation ahead of its planned 2026 IPO. This follows a $500 million private raise nine months ago that valued the US-based crypto exchange at $15 billion. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are advising Kraken on its S-1 registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Kraken reported Q2 revenue of $411 million and EBITDA of $80 million, relying on cash flow rather than aggressive burn. The exchange expanded its offerings with last year’s $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader and is testing on-chain tokenization of Apple and Tesla shares. It has also branched into stock and ETF trading. The move comes amid a wave of crypto IPOs—including Circle’s USDC, Figure, Bullish and Gemini—driven by pro-crypto US regulatory policies. At press time, the total crypto market cap stands at $3.73 trillion, up 1.1% in 24 hours.
Bullish
The announced pre-IPO funding push and targeted $20 billion valuation, backed by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, signal strong institutional confidence in Kraken. Robust Q2 results, strategic acquisitions and product expansions into futures, stocks, ETFs and tokenization underscore healthy operations. Combined with pro-crypto regulatory momentum and a wave of sector IPOs, this news is likely to boost market sentiment. Short-term, traders may see increased liquidity and positive price action; long-term, the blurred lines between traditional finance and digital assets support sustained growth for crypto trading platforms.