Blockchain.com, the cryptocurrency exchange, is reportedly interviewing investment banks as it prepares to become a publicly listed company.
The Bloomberg news agency said the flotation could take place as early as this year, although some sources suggest 2023 is likely a more realistic timeframe for the initial public offering (IPO).
The company’s chief financial officer, Macrina Kgil, hinted in August of last year that the company was looking to go public but suggested that a flotation was 18 months or more away, which would imply a 2023 listing.
The London-based firm was an early entrant in the cryptocurrency sector and is among the industry’s better-known crypto wallet providers.
Founded in 2011, the company was valued at US$14bn based on its most recent private funding round.
If it does go public, it would be following in the footsteps of Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN), the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, which went public a year ago. Coinbase shares opened at US$381 on their first day of trading but are now languishing at around US$145 but then cryptocurrency adherents are used to extreme volatility.
Blockchain.com currently has more than 37mln users who have created more than 82mln wallets.