meaning they are low in equity

Crypto exchange Kraken is considering an initial public offering (IPO) by the first quarter of 2026, as the company believes the regulatory environment in the U.S. has sufficiently changed to make a public listing viable, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Like many other companies and executives in the digital assets industry, the exchange was once in the crosshairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Biden administration. However, the regulator has been in a full-scale litigation retreat in the first months of the Trump administration. The SEC said in March that it planned to drop its suit against Kraken.

“We’ll pursue public markets as it makes sense for our clients, our partners and shareholders,” Kraken said in response to a request for comments from Bloomberg. Kraken first intended to go public by 2022.

A number of crypto companies are planning IPOs for the coming year and 2026. Circle, the firm behind the USDC stablecoin, is said to be working on a listing, as is the crypto exchange Bullish, the parent company of CoinDesk.