Gemini Pursues IPO Amid Surge in Losses

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini says it is ready to go public amid rising losses.

The company, led by billionaire twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, filed for an initial public offering (IPO) Friday (Aug. 15) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The filing shows Gemini had net losses of $282.5 million and revenues of $67.9 million for the first six months of the year. That’s compared to a $41.1 million net loss and revenues of $73.5 million during the first half of 2024.

Gemini’s planned IPO comes amid an ongoing mainstreaming of the crypto sector following President Donald Trump’s return to office.

This year has already seen stablecoin issuer Circle go public with a $1.2 billion IPO in June, while crypto exchange Bullish listed last week, raising $1.1 billion and seeing its shares leap 83% following its debut.

Writing about Circle’s IPO, PYMNTS noted that it represented more than just a successful round of fundraising for one company.

“It marks a broader cultural and economic shift. For years, cryptocurrencies have lived at the margins of institutional finance, oscillating between hype cycles and regulatory crackdowns,” that report said.

“With Circle’s entry into the public market, a new chapter looks set to begin. With blue-chip banks underwriting the deal and retail investors clamoring for shares, the traditional finance world appears more open than ever to embracing digital assets.”

Gemini had been a target of one of those crackdowns, charged by the SEC in 2023 for selling unregistered securities to retail investors, though the regulator dropped those charges earlier this year.

The company also agreed to pay $5 million in January to close a suit brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which had accused Gemini of attempting to misleading it when trying to introduce the first bitcoin futures contract regulated by the U.S.

In other crypto news, PYMNTS wrote last week about the status of stablecoins as they are on the cusp of becoming “the next contested layer of global finance.”

“From Wall Street banks to Silicon Valley FinTechs, companies are increasingly interested in stablecoin infrastructure play,” the report said. “The emerging landscape reveals three themes: institutional adoption, competitive convergence and regulatory brinkmanship. Together, they are reshaping the rails, rules and reach of money itself.”