BlockFi inches closer to US public listing

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BlockFi has just closed a $50 million series C fundraising round that gave the company a valuation of roughly $400 million. This recent fundraising round strengthens BlockFi as a prospect to become publicly traded.

CEO Zac Prince said says that the firm is even considering going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

A special purpose acquisition company is a company with no commercial operations that goes public to raise capital so that they can buy a company with commercial operations in the future. SPAC’s are attractive to many companies looking to go public because it saves them the trouble of going through the traditional IPO process and allows them to get listed and publicly trade at a faster rate.

Rumors of BlockFi looking to list on a stock exchange hit the market at the same time that rumors regarding Coinbase looking to go public began circulating. In early July, BlockFi posted a job listing saying that they were looking for a chief financial officer that could guide and position the finance team for late-stage investment, acquisition, and/or IPO. 

Digital currency companies going public

Assuming that Coinbase will be the first U.S. based company to become publicly traded—since they are expected to get listed in late 2020 or early 2021—BlockFi could be the second U.S. based digital currency company to get listed on a U.S. stock exchange. 

Beyond these two U.S.-based companies, we have seen a slew of digital currency companies attempt to go public in the United States, regardless of where their headquarters are located. Digital currency hardware manufacturers Canaan Creative (CAN) and Ebang (EBON) are already publicly traded in the United States.

It is rumored that Diginex will be going public in the United States in September after they reverse merge with 8i Enterprises Acquisition (JFK). If all is well, Digninex’s listing will make it the first digital currency exchange to become publicly traded in the United States. However, none of the current listings or upcoming listings are as anticipated as the potential Coinbase listing.