Author: Nian Qing, ChainCatcher
Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has conducted a "zero-out" withdrawal of lawsuits against crypto companies, with litigation against Kraken, ConsenSys, Cumberland, Ripple, Robinhood, Nova Labs, and others being dismissed. The new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has officially taken office and stated that establishing a digital asset regulatory framework will be his "top priority," completely changing the previous closed and high-pressure regulatory style. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice has clarified that crypto developers are not responsible for code used by criminals.
Obviously, clear regulation and loosening are driving crypto companies into a rapid development phase.
Currently, U.S. crypto enterprises are experiencing an IPO and merger wave. Over ten U.S. crypto companies are striving to go public during this window. Additionally, more projects are seeking mergers for exit, with merger numbers exceeding 10 for five consecutive months since November 2024. Large-scale mergers are frequently occurring, with merger amounts continuously breaking crypto historical records. The crypto market is entering an integration and institutionalization stage. One-stop, integrated platform-type crypto giants will continuously emerge.
What are crypto giants planning? What impact will this have on the future crypto market?
IPO Boom: Seizing the Window Period
2021 was a highlight moment for the crypto industry, with multiple crypto enterprises planning IPOs or SPAC listings to raise funds and enhance market influence, benefiting from Bitcoin price surge, low-interest environment, and SPAC boom. Coinbase's successful NASDAQ listing on April 14, 2021, was seen as a milestone for crypto industry mainstreaming. However, other crypto enterprises weren't as lucky as Coinbase. Circle, Kraken, Ripple, BlockFi, and eToro all had IPO or SPAC plans in 2021, ultimately shelved due to regulatory uncertainty and market volatility.
In the second half of 2024, Trump's election reopened the IPO window for U.S. crypto companies. Currently, multiple crypto companies have gone public in the U.S. Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck completed merger listing on December 11, 2024; Fold Holdings successfully listed on NASDAQ through SPAC merger on February 19; Amber Group's digital wealth management platform Amber Premium completed merger listing in March.
Circle, eToro, Kraken, and other companies previously planning IPOs are seizing the window period. Currently, Circle, eToro, Bgin Blockchain, Chia Network, Gemini, Ionic Digital have submitted S-1/F-1 files, with high likelihood of Q2 2025 listing; BitGo, Kraken, Bullish Global, ConsenSys, Figure, Chainalysis, Blockchain.com have expressed IPO plans or are in advisory negotiation stages, with strong potential for 2025-2026 listings.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and precise approach, maintaining the specified translations for crypto-related terms.]Crypto exchanges such as Kraken and Gemini have made the same choice. Kraken heavily acquired the US retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader, aiming to expand its derivatives market competitiveness and institutional service capabilities. In April, Kraken also announced a partnership with Beeks Exchange Cloud to launch custody services, planning to go online later this year; while Gemini has recently expanded its institutional services to Europe and Canada by providing US dollar payment support.
Ripple recently spent $1.25 billion to acquire the crypto-friendly broker Hidden Road, with the core purpose of expanding its services for institutional investors. Hidden Road is a one-stop service provider that helps large institutional investors (like Jump Trading, market makers, and hedge funds) connect exchanges, move money, borrow money, and settle transactions.
Ripple's main business is cross-border payments, but its ecosystem completely depends on its self-built network and alliance recruitment, with obvious bottlenecks in its payment business. Additionally, in June last year, Ripple acquired the New York crypto trust company Standard Custody & Trust Company. This acquisition allows Ripple to conduct crypto asset custody and settlement business.
Tokenization Layout
Behind crypto enterprises' move towards institutional services is the rapid expansion of the tokenization market.
Recently, Ripple, in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), released a report titled "Approaching the Tokenization Tipping Point". This report made an important prediction - the tokenization asset market will surge from $600 billion in 2025 to $18.9 trillion in 2033, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53%.
Tokenization refers to the process of using blockchain to record ownership and transfer assets (such as securities, commodities, and real estate). The main application scenarios of the tokenization market include trade finance, mortgage and liquidity management, investment-grade bonds, private credit, and carbon markets.
It's worth noting that, unlike previous Chinese divisions that separately categorized stablecoins and RWA tracks, this report includes stablecoins in the tokenization category. This is essentially the battleground for US crypto enterprises - tokenization. Kraken's co-CEO recently also stated that he expects the scale of tokenized stocks to exceed stablecoins.
Three crypto companies selected in Forbes' 2025 FinTech 50 - Figure, Fireblocks, and Securitize - are all engaged in tokenization businesses, including real estate, bond, and equity tokenization.
Figure Technologies uses its self-developed Provenance blockchain to provide home equity line of credit (HELOC), payment solutions, and asset tokenization services. Additionally, Figure has launched its own tokenized assets. On February 20th, the SEC first approved Figure Markets' (a subsidiary of Figure Technologies) application to develop the "yield-bearing stablecoin" YLDS. YLDS is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar and registered with the SEC as a public security, offering yields with a current annualized rate of approximately 3.85%. YLDS is in the same financial category as stocks or bonds.
Fireblocks' core business revolves around secure storage, transfer, and issuance of digital assets, serving financial institutions, exchanges, payment platforms, and Web3 enterprises. In September last year, Fireblocks acquired the tokenization company BlockFold for $13.6 million to enhance its capability to help large banks and financial institutions put assets on-chain. Since 2024, Fireblocks has begun rapidly expanding its global market, already operating in European countries like Germany and France, and Asia-Pacific regions including Singapore, Japan, and South Korea.
Securitize gained public attention through its collaboration with BlackRock to launch the tokenized asset BUIDL. Securitize provides integrated services, covering fund management, token issuance, brokerage services, transfer agency, and alternative trading systems. On April 15th, Securitize announced the acquisition of MG Stover's fund management business, making its subsidiary Securitize Fund Services (SFS) the world's largest digital asset fund management platform. This acquisition "consolidated Securitize's position as an institutional-level tokenization and fund management comprehensive platform".
In addition to planning an IPO, Circle is also eyeing the larger tokenization market.
Circle's IPO S-1 filing shows that 95% of its revenue comes from short-term US Treasury bond yields, while its own business income such as transaction fees, cross-chain bridges, and wallets is minimal. Besides the potential risks of interest rate dependence, high compliance and distribution costs consume most of its revenue.
Circle recently acquired Hashnote and its USYC tokenized money market fund. Hashnote is a regulated institutional-level investment management platform, incubated by Cumberland Labs (DRW's blockchain incubator), primarily providing institutional investors with tokenized money market funds (USYC), customized investment strategies, on-chain asset management, and custody services.
