Amber's Nasdaq Debut Signals IPO Wave for Crypto Firms, Pantera's Veradittakit Says
The provider of crypto financial services for institutions went public last month.
Amber Group's (AMBR) listing on Nasdaq earlier this month paves the way for more crypto companies to take the same path, said Paul Veradittakit, a partner at Pantera Capital.
Pantera was an early investor in the Hong Kong-based provider of crypto financial services to institutions, whose subsidiary Amber International listed on the exchange on March 13.
Public listings of crypto-focused companies will attract institutional investors who previously lacked a structured way to enter the crypto space while also bringing in fresh capital, which analysts have noted the crypto market is currently lacking, Veradittakit said in an interview.
"We are going to see a lot of U.S. companies hitting the public markets,” he said, noting that 10 companies in Pantera's portfolio are considering the move..
Crypto custody companies, stablecoin issuers and developer platforms are considering the process, he said. On Tuesday, Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, said it filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Veradittakit emphasized that clearer and more supportive regulation in the U.S. provides important "tailwinds" for crypto IPOs, helping international companies like Amber see opportunities to list publicly in the country.
Amber's listing also shows that the crypto market is not a zero-sum game between Asia and the U.S., but rather as a bridge connecting U.S. liquidity with Asian innovation and expertise, according to CEO Wayne Huo, who emphasized that the overall financial market is large enough for cooperation.
“In the past, we've seen technology breakthroughs are the fastest when the East and the West work together,” he said.
Amber intends to use the capital and visibility from the listing to support its international expansion and the development of institutional crypto financial services. The company's shares closed at $11.38 on Tuesday, giving it a market cap of about $1 billion.
“Right now, it’s just the beginning of our much, much bigger stage going forward,” Huo said.
