As the White House and Congress continue to shape the U.S. crypto regulatory landscape, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has thrown his weight behind the latest iteration of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY). He said the bill is now in a stronger, more bipartisan position as the Senate prepares to markup the broader crypto market-structure legislation on Thursday.

Armstrong disclosed his assessment in a post on X, emphasizing that the current draft reflects a rare moment of cross-aisle consensus. “I don’t think it’s ever been in a stronger or more bipartisan position,” he wrote, signaling support from a major industry player even as lawmakers broker delicate compromises on contentious topics like stablecoin yields and DeFi safeguards. He also noted a “healthy compromise” on stablecoin yield, reached through negotiations that included Senators Thom Tillis and Alsobrooks. The brokered agreement appears to have boosted momentum for the legislation, even as some concerns remain about the path forward.

The current CLARITY framework, according to Armstrong, also broadens the bill’s reach in key areas such as decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenized stocks, and the authority granted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to regulate crypto markets. Those elements are part of a broader debate about how to delineate compliance regimes for a fast-evolving sector—balancing investor protections with innovation and market access.

The timing of Armstrong’s comments aligns with months of negotiation between the banking industry and crypto participants. The bill stalled earlier in the year after an initial draft faced pushback from industry players led by Coinbase, who argued that certain provisions created uncertainties or barriers for the market. Since then, lawmakers have pursued a revised version aimed at addressing core concerns while preserving Congress’s oversight of a rapidly expanding space. A separate article highlighted how the markup date and the broader political dynamics are shaping expectations for what changes might survive the process.

In the background, polls and surveys illustrate a public-facing climate that is increasingly engaged with crypto policy. A 2025 survey by the National Cryptocurrency Association—spanning about 54,000 U.S. residents—puts ownership of cryptocurrency at roughly 20% of the population. The study also notes that younger investors dominate the user base, with about two-thirds of crypto owners under the age of 45, and a minority (roughly 15%) over 55. Among owners, investing remains the primary use case, cited by about half (52%) as a means to “invest in their financial future.”

Public sentiment toward policy reform sits on a slightly different axis. A HarrisX poll conducted earlier this month found that about 52% of registered U.S. voters supported passing the CLARITY Act into law, while 11% opposed its enactment. Taken together, the signals from industry leadership, lawmakers, and public opinion suggest a moment when a carefully calibrated regulatory bill could gain traction—provided lawmakers can resolve remaining points of disagreement, particularly around DeFi definitions and the treatment of tokenized assets.

Key takeaways

• Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong publicly supports the latest CLARITY draft, calling it the strongest and most bipartisan iteration to date as the Senate moves toward markup.
• The compromise on stablecoin yield—brokered by Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks—appears to have reduced a major hurdle that previously stalled negotiations.
• New provisions in CLARITY reportedly expand coverage for DeFi activities, tokenized stocks, and strengthen the CFTC’s authority to regulate crypto markets.
• Public sentiment is mixed but leaning toward support for policy reform: about 52% of registered voters in HarrisX’s poll, and roughly 20% of Americans own crypto, according to the National Cryptocurrency Association’s 2025 report.

Armstrong’s stance and the politics of market structure reform

Armstrong’s comments underscore a broader trend: industry coalitions are aligning behind a version of CLARITY that they believe can withstand congressional scrutiny while acknowledging concessions. The banker-crypto negotiation dynamic has evolved from a stalemate to a calibrated bargaining room where stakeholders trade guardrails for clarity. The brokered stablecoin yield agreement—though still a live point of contention for some participants—has become a focal point that could determine whether the bill advances through committee stages and into floor debate.

Two elements anchor the current discourse. First, DeFi: the latest CLARITY text purportedly tightens oversight without stifling permissionless innovation, attempting to carve out a regulatory pathway that recognizes the practical realities of decentralized protocols. Second, tokenized stocks: the bill’s language seeks to address how tokenized representations of traditional assets would operate within an asset-ownership and transfer framework that regulators can oversee. Critics have warned about overreach, but proponents argue that clearer delineation reduces legal ambiguity for market participants and issuers alike.

Meanwhile, the CFTC’s expanded remit is a recurring theme: broader authority could help align crypto markets with existing commodity rules, potentially closing gaps that have long drawn regulatory attention. Advocates say it creates a consistent, rules-based environment that could encourage institutional participation, while opponents warn of overreach that could hamper innovation. The evolving language will likely be a proxy for how aggressively U.S. regulators intend to pursue crypto-market structure in the coming years.

Public sentiment, ownership, and investor behavior

The cautionary note from public sentiment matters because policy outcomes are increasingly tethered to political and cultural support beyond technocratic circles. The National Cryptocurrency Association’s 2025 State of Crypto Holders report—drawing on a substantial nationwide sample—paints crypto ownership as a cross-section of the population with a notable skew toward younger demographics. The finding that 20% of Americans own cryptocurrency signals a broad base of potential voters who may weigh policy decisions, even if the sector remains a minority in total terms.

The demographic slice matters for market participants. With 67% of crypto owners under 45, the policy debate intersects with a generation that will shape the sector’s trajectory for years to come. The same survey indicates that investment remains the top motivator for holdings, which has implications for how policy changes could influence market activity, risk appetite, and long-term adoption. On the political front, the HarrisX poll—conducted among registered voters—adds a layer of electoral context: a majority showing support for CLARITY’s passage suggests that policymakers may find it advantageous to push forward with a version deemed acceptable by both industry and broader citizenry, though opposition remains in measurable pockets.

For investors and builders, the practical takeaway is that policy momentum could translate into clearer compliance pathways and potentially reduce regulatory risk for compliant players. Yet the precise contours of DeFi governance, stablecoin oversight, and the treatment of tokenized assets remain live debates. The next weeks will reveal how much of the compromise translates into enforceable rules and which provisions survive the markup process.

What to watch next

As Thursday’s Senate markup approaches, market participants will be parsing whether lawmakers preserve the hard-worn compromises on stablecoins and DeFi while expanding clarity on tokenized equities and CFTC oversight. The outcome will shape the trajectory of U.S. crypto markets, determine whether major platforms can operate with greater regulatory certainty, and influence how innovative projects structure their compliance approaches. With public opinion showing notable support for reform, the key question remains: can Congress finalize a framework that protects investors, preserves competitive dynamics, and avoids hampering innovation in an industry still finding its regulatory footing? Watch for the final language of the markup and any amendments that signal a durable consensus or a fallback to earlier sticking points.

Source-based signals aside, the evolution of CLARITY—tied closely to the broader market-structure debate—will continue to intersect with how institutions engage with digital assets, how DeFi protocols navigate compliance, and how tokenized assets are treated under traditional regulatory paradigms. Investors and developers should monitor committee discussions, potential stakeholder briefings, and any new regulatory guidance that might accompany or follow enactment, as those elements will shape risk, opportunity, and timelines for deployment in the U.S. market.

Note: For context on the policy arc and related reporting, readers may reference contemporaneous coverage detailing the ongoing markup and negotiations surrounding the CLARITY Act and the broader crypto market-structure bill.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $80,000 into Wednesday’s Wall Street open as US inflation data continued to alarm.

Key points:

• Bitcoin price action sees fresh downside pressure thanks to US PPI inflation reaching its highest since 2022.
• Odds of further financial tightening by the Federal Reserve increased in a headwind for crypto.
• BTC price analysis sees the CME futures gap staying as resistance “until further notice.”

BTC price action loses $80,000 in fresh inflation blow

Data from TradingView showed a trip to near $79,500 accompanying the April release of the Producer Price Index (PPI).

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Like the Consumer Price Index (CPI) print the day prior, PPI delivered a surprise to the upside — a headwind for crypto and risk assets due to the implied future tightening of financial conditions by the Federal Reserve. 

“The April increase is the largest advance since rising 1.7 percent in March 2022,” an official news release from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated. 

“On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand rose 6.0 percent for the 12 months ended in April, the largest 12-month increase since moving up 6.4 percent in December 2022.”

US PPI one-month % change. Source: BLS

The US-Iran war and its associated impact on oil prices thus continued to filter through to the economy, with even more serious upheaval to come.

“All of the data is very clear: consumers are about to face another wave serious pressure on spending power,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in a reaction on X.

The results further reduced the odds of the Fed cutting interest rates at its June meeting, with just a 1.4% chance of that outcome, per data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. 

Fed target rate probabilities for June 17 FOMC meeting (screenshot). Source: CME Group

On Monday, trading resource Mosaic Asset Company summarized the risk that high oil prices, in particular, pose to the risk-asset uptrend.

“The prospect of rising interest rates on the short- and long-end of the yield curve could pose a challenge to stock market valuations,” it wrote in the latest edition of its regular newsletter, The Market Mosaic. 

“The easing bias in central banks around the world is shifting to a more hawkish stance.”

CFDs on WTI crude oil one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin futures gap in control “until further notice”

Bitcoin traders maintained hope for a successful breakout from current resistance for BTC/USD.

Related: Bitcoin price history suggests 77% odds of new all-time high within a year

“Break above that ~$82K region and that gap at $84K will surely be filled. Likely continuing quite a lot higher at that point,” Daan Crypto Trades wrote in his latest X analysis.

Daan Crypto Trades described US stocks as recovering “nicely” from their initial weakness over the CPI data.

“Market mostly awaiting some clarity in regards to the conflict in the middle east,” he added.

BTC/USDT perpetual contract one-day chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

Trader and analyst Rekt Capital, meanwhile, saw BTC/USD moving within an open “gap” in CME Group’s Bitcoin futures market — a common short-term price magnet.

“Bitcoin finally Weekly Closed below the top of the red area, confirming that price will be consolidating within the CME Gap until further notice,” he told X followers.

CME Bitcoin futures one-week chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X

This is an excerpt from CoinDesk newsletter ‘Daybook.’ Sign up here, if you haven’t already.

While bitcoin BTC$80,949.32 remains pinned above $80,000, another interest rate-sensitive corner of the crypto market is booming and may suck capital out of other coins.

The total value locked in tokenized Treasuries has surged to $15.35 billion, topping the mid-April peak of around $15.10 billion, according to rwa.xyz data.

This comes as markets price in a higher probability of a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike (yes, an increase in borrowing costs), a stark shift from expectations for rapid rate cuts baked in earlier this year.

“The June cut just got significantly harder to defend, and the allocator positioning we flagged – capital sat in [BlackRock’s] BUIDL and tokenized T-bills rather than spot crypto – is going to look prescient by Friday,” Iggy Ioppe, CIO at Theo, said in an email.

Flows into yield-bearing tokenized Treasuries could rise further if today’s U.S. producer price index (PPI) points to persistent inflationary pressures in the pipeline. Consensus is for the April print to come in at 4.9% year-on-year, up from 4.0% in March.

An elevated reading would add to Fed rate-hike expectations and pose a headwind to risk assets. How bitcoin reacts remains to be seen, especially as it held largely steady above $80,000 after Tuesday’s hotter-than-expected CPI print.

While noting BTC’s resilience, analysts at Marex warned that further gains may be difficult if inflation continues to climb.

“That is the constraint for crypto: it can hold, but it will struggle to trend higher if real [inflation] rates keep grinding up,” analysts at Marex said.

Miners, too, present a potential headwind.

“If large miners are reporting big losses and pivoting toward AI, it usually means they may need to manage balance sheets more actively, which can translate into more spot supply on rallies. That is not a crash trigger, but it can cap upside in a choppy macro tape,” they noted.

In the broader market, smaller coins such as ING, DOT, ATOM and TRUMP added 5% or more, pointing to a rotation of capital into selective tokens. Majors like ether (ETH), solana (SOL), and XRP remain choppy.

Bitcoin and ether volatility indexes continue to point to near-term calm ahead of three major events: the PPI report, the Clartiy Act vote and the meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jingping.

In traditional markets, WTI crude oil futures bounced back above $100, while copper rose to near-record highs, both pointing to more commodity-led inflation ahead. Stay alert!

Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today . For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”

What’s trending

Today’s signal

Bitcoin BTC$80,949.32 appears to be at an inflection point, with the recovery from February lows stalling near the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) at around $82,300 and the upper boundary of a rising channel.

The momentum has stalled just as macro uncertainty around inflation and Federal Reserve policy intensifies.

A bearish resolution would involve BTC failing to break above the 200-day average and slipping below $75,000, which was widely cited as a key level in February-March. That could encourage systematic sellers back to the market, particularly if rising Treasury yields continue to tighten financial conditions and weigh on risk appetite.

On the bullish side, a decisive move above the 200-day average would confirm a bull market, potentially yielding a rally to as high as $92,000.

CORRECTION (May 13, 7:07pm ET): Updates Iggy Ioppe’s title.

Market analysts said Ether (ETH) was ready to continue its uptrend following moves by JPMorgan and BlackRock to launch tokenized funds on the Ethereum network.

Key takeaways:

• Institutional adoption is underway as JPMorgan and BlackRock plan to launch tokenized funds on Ethereum.
• Strong technical structures in multiple time frames suggest ETH price is bottoming out. 

ETH traders anticipate the price to “outperform”

Data from TradingView showed ETH/USD trading at $2,320, up 2% over the last 24 hours. 

The pair failed to crack through resistance at $2,400 last week, as spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows and rising balance on Binance derailed Ether’s recovery.

As such, bulls must push and hold the ETH/USD pair above $2,400 to continue the uptrend.

In a Wednesday post on X, analyst CryptoJack said ETH is “getting ready for a pump” as it consolidates inside a symmetrical triangle on lower time frames.

“A breakout could lead to a strong move soon.”

ETH/USD chart. Source: X/CryptoJack

Crypto Patel’s chart shows ETH trading inside an ascending triangle that has guided its price action since 2020. ETH is bouncing off the triangle’s lower trendline around $1,800, a zone that previously acted as a launchpad for large upside moves.

The analyst sets the upside target for Ether at $10,000-$15,000, saying:

“$ETH will outperform this cycle.”

ETH/USD two-week chart. Source: X/Crypto Patel

Fellow crypto analyst Celal Kucuker also shared a bullish argument, laying out a long-term roadmap that places ETH on course for a possible move above $24,000.

ETH/USD one-month chart. Source: X/Celal Kucuker

Momentum indicators support the rebound thesis. Ether’s monthly relative strength index (RSI) has cooled toward a historical support area near 42-455, similar to levels that preceded past rallies.

As Cointelegraph reported, buyers will be back in control once the ETH/USD pair breaks above the $2,450-$2,600, confirming a trend shift.

Institutional adoption fuels Ether’s bullishness

As Cointelegraph reported, JPMorgan is set to launch a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, allowing stablecoin issuers to hold reserves backing their stablecoins while earning interest.

Related: Bitmine slows Ethereum buys, targets December to own 5% of supply

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has also filed for tokenized versions of its Treasury liquidity funds, where official ownership records will be maintained on Ethereum using ERC-20 token standards.

Source: Cointelegraph

“Institutional adoption just hit another level,” analysts at Ethereum Daily said in a post on X on Wednesday. 

“This is the most bullish news for Ethereum,” X user Borovik said in a reaction to the news on Wednesday.

Tokenized funds on Ethereum, bulls argue, will drive onchain activity, increase gas demand and total value locked (TVL). This will, in turn, boost the blockchain’s legitimacy, making ETH the preferred settlement layer for trillions in TradFi capital. 

Data from RWA.xyz shows that global tokenized funds already exceed $31 billion, with Ethereum dominating approximately 55% of the space.

Total global RWA value. Source: RWA.xyz

These were not the only bullish news for Ethereum. MN Capital founder Michael van de Poppe said that the approval of the CLARITY Act, which is scheduled for markup on Thursday, would be a “massive trigger for the markets.” 

Market analyst Ethprofit.eth said the CLARITY Act “looks extremely bullish for Ethereum,” while Bitcoin Mami said “institutional demand is going insane post CLARITY Act,” pushing ETH price to $10,000.

Polymarket bettors are pricing in a 60% chance that the CLARITY Act will be signed into law in 2026, down 5% over the last 24 hours.

Odds of the CLARITY Act being signed into law in 2026. Source: Polymarket

If the CLARITY Act becomes law, Ether is expected to rally, as seen in July 2025, when the signing of the GENIUS Act into law preceded a 65% ETH price rise to its current all-time high of $4,950 from $3,000. 

The Solana-based tokens marketed as a way to gain exposure to Anthropic and OpenAI before they go public got an unwelcome reality check this week.

The two companies said the transfer of privately held shares to the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) that back the tokens is invalid because any such move requires approval by the corporate board.

The tokens slumped. Anthropic PreStocks (ANTHROPIC), issued by Solana-based platform PreStocks to represent Anthropic shares, dropped 34% in seven days, while OpenAI PreStocks fell 39%, CoinGecko data show.

PreStocks uses SPVs, legal entities set up specifically to hold something on behalf of investors, to hold the shares, and issues tokens on Solana that represent indirect economic exposure to those shares.

“We do not permit special purpose vehicles to acquire Anthropic stock and any transfer of shares to an SPV are void under our transfer restrictions,” Anthropic said in an updated investor warning page.

Any third party claiming to sell its shares through “direct sales, forward contracts, tokenized securities, or other mechanisms” is “likely either engaged in fraud or offering an investment that may have no value due to our transfer restrictions,” the company said.

OpenAI issued a similar warning, saying unauthorized transactions may violate U.S. securities laws and could result in the invalidation of the underlying equity. Both companies named several intermediaries. Anthropic listed Open Door Partners, Hiive and Forge as unauthorized to buy or sell its shares.

While PreStocks tokens claim 1:1 backing through SPVs, neither the platform nor any third-party auditor has published the attestation reports the company promised at launch.

Liquidity is a concern as well. Data from PreStocks shows just over $333,000 in stablecoins and $18,000 in solana (SOL) in Anthropic liquidity as of Wednesday, meaning early buyers sitting on big profits might not be able to fully cash out. This exposes the gap between the implied valuations on the platform and what the underlying SPVs can actually deliver.

The dashboard also shows an implied Anthropic valuation above $1.3 trillion against the platform holding roughly $23 million in total assets, a gap that gave the companies the structural opening to push back.

PreStocks debuted in August 2025 with backing from Republic Capital and is led by CEO Xavier Ekkel. The platform is unavailable to residents of the U.S., Singapore, the European Union, and certain sanctioned jurisdictions, and requires know-your-customer processes for minting and redemptions. Partnerships at launch included Jupiter and Meteora, both decentralized exchanges on Solana.

Aerodrome voting opens May 28. Mainnet Launch: June 4.

This quarter, AI started writing its own exploits. Tea is shipping the trust layer underneath it. Code Is Abundant. Trust Is Not.

In the span of seven days, the ground beneath the software shifted twice. On May 4, The Conversation published the most widely-circulated post-mortem yet of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview, the frontier model Anthropic itself declined to release, because it can autonomously discover zero-days, generate working exploits, and execute multi-step cyber operations with minimal human oversight.

Days later, Google’s Gemma 4 landed inside Android’s AICore and Google AI Edge, putting agentic code generation, function calling, and offline reasoning on every developer’s phone and laptop under an Apache 2.0 license.

The implication is unavoidable. When any device can generate, execute, and weaponize software autonomously, trust cannot live in the binary. It has to live at the source.

Tea: the value layer for open source

Tea is the provenance, attribution, and verification layer for a world where code is written by agents faster than humans can audit it. Every package, every contribution, every dependency, cryptographically attributed, continuously verified, and economically aligned with the people and systems that built it.

Tea goes live on Aerodrom: the liquidity engine of base meets the trust layer of software

The moment Tea lists on Aerodrome, the two fastest-moving primitives in crypto collide: Base’s deepest liquidity venue and the first on-chain provenance layer built for the agentic AI era. Working with Aerodrome is a statement. It’s known as the place where Base’s most serious assets route. Tea chose Aerodrome because a trust layer for software should launch into the most battle-tested, transparent, community-governed market structure on-chain, not a centralized orderbook pretending to be neutral.

From block one, $TEA liquidity on Aerodrome means: verifiable on-chain routing, deep vote-directed emissions, and a price surface every trader, investor, and builder can see in real time. Aero flywheel + Tea provenance = a launch where the market structure is as credible as the technology’s pricing.

“Code is abundant. Trust is not,” said Tim Lewis, leading Tea’s launch. “Mythos showed us AI can write its own exploits. Gemma 4 put that capability in every pocket. The question isn’t whether agents will ship software (because they already are). The value of contribution will be weighed in inference and tokens and whether anyone can verify what they shipped. That’s what Tea is for.”

About Tea

Tea is building the software verification layer for the agentic era, serving as a decentralized protocol for provenance, attribution, and trust in open-source software. With open source running almost everything today, TEA provides the essential economic infrastructure to help people support it. Validated directly at the source, the protocol enables the community to verify work, understand dependency graphs, and govern what truly matters, ultimately empowering AI agents to build with better context.

Media contact:

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is supporting the latest version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY) ahead of the US Senate’s markup of the crypto market structure bill on Thursday. 

“I don’t think it’s ever been in a stronger or more bipartisan position,” he said about the latest iteration of the market structure bill.

Armstrong said that the banking and crypto industry lobbies have reached a “healthy compromise” on stablecoin yield, which was one of the main issues that stalled the market structure bill in January. He added:

“I think there was a healthy compromise there, brokered by Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks. And you know, it was a good compromise because both sides left a little bit unhappy, but at least we got to a place that we can all live with.”

The latest version of the CLARITY bill also improved provisions surrounding decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenized stocks, and the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to regulate crypto markets, he said.

Source: Brian Armstrong

The comments and the bill’s pending markup follow months of back-and-forth negotiations between the banking sector and the crypto industry over the bill, which stalled in January 2025 after crypto industry players, led by Coinbase, rejected the initial draft.

Related: Latest version of crypto market structure bill raises eyebrows ahead of Senate markup

About 20% of the US population owns crypto, according to industry advocacy groups

About one in five Americans, or 20%, owns cryptocurrency, according to the National Cryptocurrency Association’s 2025 State of Crypto Holders report, which surveyed 54,000 US residents.

The survey found that about 67% of US crypto owners are below the age of 45, while about 15% are over 55 years old.

A demographic breakdown of crypto users in the United States. Source: National Cryptocurrency Association

The top-ranked use case for cryptocurrency was as an investment, with 52% of holders indicating that they use digital assets to “invest in their financial future,” according to the survey.

A HarrisX poll conducted earlier this month also found that 52% of the 2,008 registered US voters surveyed supported passing the CLARITY Act into law, while just 11% opposed the passage of the legislation.

Magazine: Will the CLARITY Act be good — or bad — for DeFi?

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Crypto wallet provider Ledger put its plans to go public in the U.S. on hold due to difficult market conditions, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Ledger has not filed any draft S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), one of the people said. A confidential filing is typically the first formal step in the IPO process.

The French cryptocurrency security firm has a number of options, and could decide to raise capital privately, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is not public.

In January, reports emerged that Ledger had hired U.S. investment banks for a potential IPO valued at around $4 billion. Goldman Sachs (GS), Jefferies (JEF) and Barclays (BARC) were said to be advising on the offering, which could have come as early as this year.

A Ledger spokesperson declined to comment.

Ledger is best known for its hardware wallets that let people securely store cryptocurrencies offline. Its core business is protecting users’ private keys, the cryptographic credentials that control access to digital assets like bitcoin (BTC and ether (ETH).

After a wave of crypto listings in 2025, several digital-asset firms began rethinking their IPO timelines as weaker token prices, lower trading volumes and volatile equity markets weighed on investor appetite.

Kraken, one of the largest U.S. crypto exchanges, paused its multibillion-dollar IPO plans earlier this year despite having confidentially filed with the SEC in late 2025.

BitGo (BTGO), the only crypto-native company to go public in 2026, offered an early test of investor appetite for digital asset listings. It raised about $213 million in its January IPO, pricing shares above the marketed range at $18 and briefly surging more than 20% in its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) debut.

The momentum proved short-lived. After an initial rally, BitGo shares retreated below their IPO price, underscoring the volatility and uneven investor sentiment facing crypto firms seeking to tap public markets.

The shares are currently trading about 36% below their IPO price.

In March, Ledger appointed former Circle Internet (CRCL) executive John Andrews as chief financial officer and opened an office in New York City as part of a broader expansion of its U.S. operations.

Andrews, who previously led capital markets and investor relations at Circle, joined the crypto security firm as demand from banks, asset managers and stablecoin issuers for digital asset infrastructure continues to grow.

The company said the New York office was part of a multimillion-dollar investment in its U.S. footprint and would serve as a hub for Ledger Enterprise, its institutional infrastructure platform. Ledger also said the expansion would create dozens of new jobs across enterprise and marketing functions.

Read more: Kraken parent Payward seeks fresh funding at $20 billion valuation ahead of planned IPO