Crypto Currents: Kraken confidentially files for IPO

As digital asset companies have seen renewed success in going public in the U.S. this year, crypto exchange Kraken has confidentially filed for an initial public offering. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will be facing Senate scrutiny over his crypto plans. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with “Crypto Currents,” daily from The Fly. Join us at 2 PM ET for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio, Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel for the Crypto Fly By weekly recap.

KRAKEN CONFIDENTIALLY FILES FOR IPO: Payward, doing business as Kraken, announced Wednesday that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed IPO of its common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The initial public offering is expected to occur after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions. The move comes after the company announced Tuesday that it was valued at $20B in its latest fundraising, a 33% increase in under two months.

SENATORS TO GRILL CFTC PICK ON CRYPTO REGULATION: U.S. senators are set to question Michael Selig, Donald Trump’s nominee to head the CFTC, over his plans to overhaul crypto regulations and election betting, Reuters’ Hannah Lang reported. Selig, currently chief counsel for the SEC’s crypto task force, said in an X post that he would “help the President make the United States the Crypto Capital of the World.” The CFTC is expected to take a more active role in the industry if Congress passes the CLARITY Act, which includes proposed changes in crypto market oversight. The act would settle a longstanding debate by defining when a cryptocurrency is considered a commodity versus a security. Selig is expected to be asked about that bill and how the CFTC would work with the SEC to oversee markets.

Additionally on Wednesday, CoinDesk’s Jesse Hamilton reported that the Senate Banking Committee advanced Travis Hill’s confirmation as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to a final vote in the wider Senate. In his first weeks leading the agency as acting chairman, Hill reversed earlier guidance that had made it difficult for bankers to engage in crypto activity. He has maintained a pro-crypto stance and he aided Coinbase (COIN) in its campaign to reveal communications between the FDIC and banks about blocking new digital assets business.

21SHARES LAUNCHES SOLANA ETF: 21shares announced the launch of the 21Shares Solana ETF, or TSOL, on CBOE. The launch of TSOL allows U.S. investors to gain transparent exposure to the growth of Solana. With a total expense ratio of 0.21%, TSOL incorporates staking to enhance potential returns and tracks the performance of SOL. The launch of the fund comes as the race for solana ETFs intensifies, which includes Fidelity’s launch of the Fidelity Solana Fund, or FSOL, on the NYSE Arca and VanEck’s introduction of its own staking-enabled solana ETF, VSOL.

ANALYST INITIATES PIVOTING BITCOIN MINERS: Citizens JMP initiated coverage of Cipher Mining (CIFR) with an Outperform rating and $30 price target. The firm launched coverage of five companies previously in bitcoin mining, saying they provide “critically-scarce” power supply for high performance compute and artificial intelligence. The deployment of graphics processing unit clusters represents an opportunity to “unlock significant value,” the analyst said. Citizens sees strong pricing trends with a continued supply/demand imbalance for the group. Citizens JMP also initiated coverage of Riot Platforms (RIOT) with a $25 price target, WhiteFiber (WYFI) with a $37 price target, Nebius (NBIS) with a $175 price target and Iren (IREN) with an $80 price target. The analyst has an Outperform rating on all the names.

CRYPTO EARNINGS: Bullish (BLSH) reported third quarter results on Wednesday, with earnings per share of 10c on revenue of $76.5M, which compared to analyst estimates of 10c and $71.14M, respectively. The company also guided to Q4 subscription, services and other revenue of $47M to $53M and adjusted operating expenses of $48M to $50M. David Bonanno, CFO, said, “Bullish continues to win. After posting record SS&O revenue and record profitability in the third quarter, we are continuing to see strong momentum in the fourth quarter. Our recently launched options product has already surpassed $1B in trading volume and quarter-to-date spot trading volume is up 77% from Q3. We continue to expand our liquidity services ecosystem and feel confident that our diversified business model will deliver sustained, profitable growth.”

Following the report, Citi noted that Bullish topped both Citi and Street expectations and that its top-line outperformance flowed into an adjusted EBITDA beat. The firm, which sees execution momentum accelerating, maintains a Buy rating and $77 price target on Bullish shares.

On Tuesday, Canaan (CAN) reported a Q3 loss per share of (5c) on revenue of $150.5M, which compared to analyst estimates of a loss per share of (1c) on revenue of $130.45M. The company’s cryptocurrency treasury expanded to 1,581.9 BTC and 2,830 ETH by the end of Q3 and further climbed to 1,610 BTC and 3,950 ETH by October-end. The company also guided to Q4 revenue of $175M to $205M. Nangeng Zhang, CEO, said, “In the third quarter of 2025, we delivered a strong performance amid complex macro conditions and ongoing geopolitical friction. Our total revenue reached $150.5M, exceeding the high end of our guidance range, driven by record-breaking momentum in both mining machine sales and self-operated mining. We sold over 10 EH/s of computing power, marking a 55.6% sequential increase and setting a new quarterly high. Our Avalon Home product line also gained significant traction among retail and distributor channels, contributing more than 8% of total revenue for the quarter. Meanwhile, our installed mining fleet expanded to 9.3 EH/s by the end of the third quarter, supported by competitive power costs and rising efficiency, reinforcing our integrated strategy in mining operations.”

Additionally on Tuesday, IP Strategy (IPST) reported Q3 EPS of $16.97 on revenue of $2.99M, which compared to a loss per share of ($160.41) on revenue of $1.76M last year. “With $196.3M in net income, the third quarter was a transformative period for IP Strategy. During the quarter we successfully completed our $223.8M PIPE offering focused on the $IP token, from which we acquired 53.2M $IP tokens, and then launched our industry-leading validator operations using those same tokens to increase net revenues by 69.9%, all while eliminating all secured debt and preparing our transition to becoming an asset light, high-margin enterprise,” said CEO Justin Stiefel.

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin was trading at approximately $89,897.02, while ether was trading near $2,956.56, according to price data from CoinDesk.