Digital asset platform Blockchain.com is getting ready for an initial public offering (IPO) at a valuation of $14 billion that could happen before the end of this year, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday (April 19), citing unnamed sources with insider information.
The platform is now in the process of interviewing banks, but there is a chance the IPO will be held off until 2023, or that it won’t take place at all, the sources told Bloomberg. Blockchain.com declined to comment one way or the other about the issue.
Blockchain.com doubled its valuation in March to $14 billion following a Series D funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Baillie Gifford & Co. The company also raised $300 million at a $5.2 billion valuation in March 2021 in a funding round led by Lightspeed and VY Capital.
Headquartered in London, Blockchain.com was launched in 2011 and is one of the oldest firms in the crypto space. It was co-founded by CEO Peter Smith, president Nicolas Cary, and Benjamin Reeves to enable users to buy and store digital tokens like bitcoin.
The company has 37 million verified users worldwide, with 82 million wallets created and more than $1 trillion transacted, according to its website. It operates in more than 200 countries and got its start as an early trailblazer in cryptocurrency and developed infrastructure for the bitcoin community.
Earlier this month, Blockchain.com launched an asset management service for institutional investors — BCAM — and also started developing a product to manage exposure to decentralized finance (DeFi) coins.
BCAM will enable the firm to double down on institutional investors and cater to family offices and high net worth investors.
Blockchain.com bought Altonomy’s crypto OTC desk in February in a deal valued at $250 million in cash and stock. The acquisition gave Blockchain.com a large roster of institutional clients, plus $8 billion in loan originations and $15 billion in lifetime trading volume related to institutions.
