Exchange News | Kraken valued at billions, aiming for IPO next year; Established exchange introduces "Bitfinex Pay"

Following Coinbase's direct listing strategy, the CEO of Kraken recently revealed in an interview that they may seek an opportunity for an IPO at some point next year; veteran exchange Bitfinex has launched a crypto payment product for enterprises called "Bitfinex Pay," similar to the earlier "Binance Pay."

Kraken Seeks to Go Public Next Year

According to an interview with Bloomberg, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell was asked about the possibility of going public with a valuation of $10 billion. He stated:

As far as an IPO, of course, we're on the right track, but $10 billion is really low. I have no interest in issuing stock at that price, and Kraken has positive cash flow, a very healthy balance sheet, and there's really no reason to raise new capital except for accelerating the company's acquisition.

Powell mentioned that they might opt for a direct listing next year, but there is no guarantee it will happen.

Coinbase Valued at Up to $100 Billion

In comparison, Coinbase, set to go public on the Nasdaq Global Select Market with the ticker symbol "COIN," is valued at up to $100 billion.

It was also previously reported that Coinbase, in its S-1 filing, a U.S. domestic company's prospectus, disclosed the possibility of issuing security tokens in the future. They may issue new shares or stocks in the form of blockchain tokens related to "customer rewards or loyalty programs."

Bitfinex Pay

Established exchange Bitfinex has launched an enterprise cryptocurrency payment product called "Bitfinex Pay." This payment service helps online merchants accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USD Tether (USDT), and Bitfinex Pay also supports Bitcoin payments via the Lightning Network.

This is similar to "Binance Pay" launched by Binance in early February, with the difference being that Binance also integrates other products like the Binance Card.

Bitfinex used to be a mainstream exchange before the rise of Binance, catering to almost all users' needs for lending and margin trading in the market. However, it has faded from the public eye in recent years, with lending being a product more familiar to Taiwanese users.

In addition, even its platform token LEO Token (LEO) has almost decoupled from the market, with only a 50% increase from October last year until now, showing a significant performance gap compared to other platform tokens.