Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange, is looking for a valuation of up to $2.22 billion in its U.S. initial public offering (IPO). The New York-based company, founded by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in 2014, said it plans to sell 16.67 million shares at a price between $17 and $19 each. At the high end of this range, the company could raise as much as $317 million.
The IPO filing comes as the U.S. public offering market sees a strong comeback, driven by favorable market conditions and impressive first-day trading results that have encouraged more private companies to go public. Other recent debutants, such as digital bank Chime Financial and space technology firm Firefly Aerospace, saw strong investor demand on their first day of trading.
If the listing is successful, Gemini will be the third publicly traded digital asset exchange, following Bullish and Coinbase. “After Circle and Bullish’s successful IPOs, alongside a strong overall market and higher crypto prices, it does feel like an opportune time for crypto-related companies to consider going public,” said Bo Pei, an analyst at US Tiger Securities.
The Winklevoss twins became well-known after settling a legal dispute with Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2008. They later earned the nickname “bitcoin twins” after investing part of their settlement in bitcoin, which made them some of the world’s first cryptocurrency billionaires.
Gemini plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker “GEMI.” Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are serving as the lead bookrunners for the deal.
