Kraken‘s co-CEO Arjun Sethi indicated on Tuesday that the cryptocurrency exchange’s confidential initial public offering (IPO) filing process was still active, following reports that the plan had been paused.
In November, Kraken confidentially filed for an IPO following an $800 million funding round that boosted its valuation to $20 billion. The company had submitted a draft S-1 to the SEC, though details like share count and pricing were still undecided. However, a March report by CoinDesk suggested that Kraken had paused its IPO plans and was unlikely to proceed until market conditions improve.
At the Semafor World Economy 2026 conference on Tuesday, when asked about the public filing, Sethi confirmed the company has a confidential filing but did not comment on the reported pause.
Sethi did not disclose a timeline, pricing range, or valuation for the offering, but indicated that the confidential filing process is still active.
"Is that news?" Semafor reporter Rohan Goswami asked, to which Sethi responded, "I believe that's news."
Democratizing Finance, AI fears overblown
The co-CEO said that investors ultimately want access to the same kinds of advanced financial tools and products used by firms like Citadel, Jane Street, and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM). The mission is to make these products more open and accessible so individuals can better use their own capital.
Addressing concerns about AI disrupting SaaS companies, Sethi stated that such fears are exaggerated. “There's always a certain set of companies that get disrupted by technology, and that has continued to happen," he said. Sethi said that nearly all companies are now, in some way, driven by software, and AI is spreading rapidly across them at an accelerating pace.
Reported Pause In IPO, Valuation Decline
Kraken’s IPO filing comes after a series of significant events. On Tuesday, Deutsche Börse Group invested $200 million in Payward, Inc., the parent company of Kraken, acquiring a 1.5% stake through a secondary share purchase. The move strengthens its partnership with Kraken, aiming to better connect traditional financial markets with the digital asset ecosystem.
Earlier in March, Anthony Scaramucci noted that Kraken was evolving into a “monster business” through strategic acquisitions, organic growth, and gaining direct access to Fedwire. This development marked Kraken as the first cryptocurrency company in the U.S. to secure Fedwire, the core payment infrastructure used by thousands of U.S. banks and credit unions.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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