Reddit applies for IPO, holds BTC and ETH, with Sam Altman as an investor.

The U.S. version of the PTT forum, Reddit, is applying to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RDDT." According to its listing application submitted to the SEC, it holds a small amount of cryptocurrency on its balance sheet, with prominent figure Sam Altman being one of its key investors.

Reddit's History with Cryptocurrency

Reddit has been actively involved in cryptocurrency-related projects, most notably its series of NFTs based on Polygon, which saw hundreds of thousands of collectibles minted daily at the peak of its popularity.

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Reddit also experimented with blockchain-based rewards for several popular subreddits, aiming to incentivize valuable content creation, participation in discussions, and rewarding community contributions. However, after running for three years, the company terminated the initiative in October last year citing regulatory and scalability issues.

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Reddit Holds Bitcoin and Ethereum

Reddit disclosed that it has "invested a portion of its cash reserves in Bitcoin and Ethereum for treasury purposes." It also holds Ethereum and Polygon's native token MATIC "as a payment method for certain virtual goods sales," although the amounts are not significant.

Reddit Users and Moderators Get a Chance to Participate

Reddit intentionally reserved some Class A common stock for sale to qualified individuals at the IPO price, including:

• Eligible Reddit users and moderators
• Some members of the board of directors
• Friends and family of certain employees and directors

Reddit, known for its community-driven platform, will measure user contributions in this IPO offering, providing users with the opportunity to subscribe to shares at the IPO price.

Sam Altman Also an Investor

Sam Altman and affiliated companies own 9.2% of Reddit's shares and Altman served on its board of directors. According to CNBC, Altman led a $50 million Series B funding for Reddit in 2014 after using Reddit's service daily for nine years, followed by investments in Series E and F rounds, accumulating a 9.2% stake. CNBC estimates that Sam Altman stands to make millions of dollars when Reddit goes public.

SEC Approval Still Pending

Reddit requires SEC approval to officially go public. The company plans to trade its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RDDT but has not disclosed the amount or price of the offering. Leading Wall Street institutions - Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Bank of America Securities - are underwriting the offering, with participation from Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, among others.