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Crypto companies race to public markets as industry sheds post-FTX stigma

Crypto companies race to public markets as industry sheds post-FTX stigma

Money Moves
By Newzino Staff |

After a wave of successful 2025 IPOs, digital asset firms are lining up for Nasdaq and NYSE listings

Yesterday: Abra announces $750 million SPAC merger for Nasdaq listing

Overview

Abra, a cryptocurrency wealth management platform that paid more than $83 million in regulatory settlements over the past two years, announced a $750 million merger with a blank-check company to list on Nasdaq. The deal with New Providence Acquisition Corp. III would deliver up to $300 million in cash to fund expansion of Abra's institutional lending, yield, and custody business—now the company's sole focus after it shut down its retail operations amid enforcement actions.

In This Story

3 Videos
2 People
BB
Alexander Coleman
3 Orgs
AP
New Providence Acquisition Corp. III U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
12 Events
5 Key Stats
$750M
4 Scenarios
Abra closes SPAC, reaches $10 billion in assets under management
3 Context
Coinbase direct listing (2021)

Key Indicators

$750M
Pre-money equity valuation
Abra's valuation in the SPAC merger with New Providence Acquisition Corp. III
$83M+
Total regulatory settlements
Combined penalties and customer repayments Abra paid across federal and state enforcement actions since 2020
$10B
Assets under management target by 2027
Abra's stated goal for institutional assets, up from hundreds of millions today
6+
Major crypto listings since mid-2025
Circle, Bullish, Gemini, eToro, BitGo, and now Abra have gone or are going public
100%
Existing investor rollover
All current Abra investors including Pantera Capital and Blockchain Capital will convert their holdings into public shares

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People Involved

BB
Bill Barhydt
Leading Abra through SPAC merger; banned from money transmitter businesses in 25 states for five years
 Alexander Coleman
Alexander Coleman
Leading SPAC through merger with Abra

Organizations Involved

AP
Abra (Plutus Financial Inc.)
Cryptocurrency Wealth Management Platform
Merging with SPAC for Nasdaq listing

A digital asset wealth management platform serving institutional clients, registered investment advisers, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals with custody, trading, yield, and lending services.
New Providence Acquisition Corp. III
New Providence Acquisition Corp. III
Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC)
Merging with Abra; approximately $302 million in trust

A blank-check company formed to acquire a consumer-market business with an enterprise value above $700 million, now merging with Abra.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Federal Regulatory Agency
Previously brought two enforcement actions against Abra

The primary U.S. federal agency responsible for regulating securities markets, which brought enforcement actions against Abra in 2020 and 2024.

Timeline

  1. Abra announces $750 million SPAC merger for Nasdaq listing

    Deal

    Abra announced a merger with New Providence Acquisition Corp. III at a $750 million pre-money valuation. The combined company will trade on Nasdaq as Abra Financial Inc. under the ticker ABRX.

  2. BitGo debuts on NYSE with 25% first-day gain

    Market

    Crypto custody firm BitGo went public on the New York Stock Exchange, gaining nearly 25% on its first trading day and reaching a market capitalization of $2.6 billion.

  3. Bullish lists on Nasdaq after abandoning earlier SPAC attempt

    Market

    Crypto exchange Bullish, which owns CoinDesk, went public through a traditional listing after its 2021 SPAC deal stalled. Shares rose from $37 to $90 in weeks, reaching a market capitalization above $13 billion.

  4. Circle goes public via traditional IPO at $18 billion valuation

    Market

    Three years after its SPAC deal collapsed, stablecoin issuer Circle completed a traditional initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, priced above its target range with 25 to 30 times oversubscription.

  5. SEC fines Abra $1.65 million over unregistered lending product

    Regulatory

    The SEC settled charges against Abra for failing to register its Abra Earn crypto lending product, which at its peak held approximately $600 million in assets.

  6. Abra settles with 25 states, agrees to repay $82 million

    Regulatory

    Abra settled with 25 state financial regulators for operating without money transmitter licenses. The company agreed to repay up to $82 million in crypto assets to U.S. retail customers.

  7. SEC approves spot Bitcoin ETFs, a watershed for institutional crypto

    Regulatory

    The SEC approved the first U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, triggering massive institutional inflows. BlackRock's fund alone accumulated more than $50 billion in assets within its first year.

  8. Circle terminates SPAC deal

    Deal

    Circle's SPAC merger with Concord Acquisition Corp collapsed after failing to close, a casualty of the simultaneous crypto winter and SPAC market bust.

  9. FTX collapses, deepening crypto credibility crisis

    Industry

    The implosion of FTX and the arrest of founder Sam Bankman-Fried sent shockwaves through the crypto industry, making public markets even more wary of digital asset companies.

  10. Bakkt goes public via SPAC; shares fall on day one

    Market

    Cryptocurrency exchange Bakkt began trading after its SPAC merger. The stock fell on its first day and would eventually lose more than 90% of its value from post-merger highs.

  11. Circle announces SPAC merger at up to $9 billion valuation

    Deal

    Stablecoin issuer Circle agreed to go public through a SPAC merger with Concord Acquisition Corp, initially valued at $4.5 billion and later revised upward to $9 billion.

  12. Coinbase opens the door with landmark direct listing

    Market

    Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase listed directly on Nasdaq at a fully diluted market capitalization of roughly $86 billion, becoming the first major crypto company to trade on a U.S. stock exchange.

Scenarios

1

Abra closes SPAC, reaches $10 billion in assets under management

Discussed by: Company management projections; Pantera Capital and Blockchain Capital (existing investors rolling 100% of holdings into public entity)

The merger closes with minimal shareholder redemptions, delivering the full $300 million in cash. Abra uses the capital to expand institutional custody and lending, riding the wave of institutional crypto adoption catalyzed by Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The company's SEC-registered adviser status and segregated vault structure attract family offices and registered investment advisers looking for regulated on-ramps. In this scenario, Abra's institutional-only pivot proves to be an asset, not a liability, and the stock performs in line with other 2025-2026 crypto listings.

2

High redemptions gut the deal; Abra lists but struggles for capital

Discussed by: SPAC market analysts at Woodruff Sawyer and Skadden; precedent from 2022-2023 SPAC era where redemption rates regularly exceeded 80%

SPAC shareholders, wary of Abra's regulatory history and the poor track record of crypto SPACs, redeem most of their shares before the merger closes. Abra receives far less than $300 million in cash, potentially scraping just above the $40 million minimum closing condition. The company lists but lacks the capital to execute its growth plan, and the stock trades below the $10 SPAC reference price—following the pattern of Bakkt and other 2021-era crypto SPACs.

3

SPAC merger collapses before closing

Discussed by: SPAC Research; Circle's 2022 SPAC termination as precedent

Regulatory review of Abra's history—including three enforcement actions and the chief executive's five-year ban from money transmitter businesses—delays or blocks the merger. Alternatively, a crypto market downturn or deteriorating SPAC market conditions causes one party to walk away, as happened with Circle's SPAC in 2022. Abra would need to pursue alternative financing or a traditional initial public offering if it still wanted public-market access.

4

Abra's listing accelerates a second wave of crypto SPACs

Discussed by: PitchBook and The Block analysts tracking the 2026 crypto IPO pipeline; SPAC sponsor community

If Abra's SPAC closes cleanly and the stock performs well, it could open the door for other crypto companies—particularly mid-size firms that lack the revenue profile for a traditional initial public offering—to pursue the SPAC route. With Kraken, Consensys, Ledger, and others reportedly exploring listings, a successful Abra deal could rehabilitate the crypto SPAC model that was discredited in 2022.

Historical Context

Coinbase direct listing (2021)

April 2021

What Happened

Coinbase became the first major cryptocurrency company to trade on a U.S. stock exchange, listing directly on Nasdaq at a fully diluted market capitalization of roughly $86 billion. The stock opened at $381 per share—well above its $250 reference price—on the strength of $1.8 billion in first-quarter revenue.

Outcome

Short Term

The listing triggered a wave of crypto companies pursuing public markets, with multiple SPAC deals announced in the following months.

Long Term

Coinbase's stock fell more than 80% during the 2022 crypto winter before recovering. The listing established the template: crypto companies must demonstrate real revenue and regulatory compliance to sustain public-market valuations.

Why It's Relevant Today

Coinbase opened the public-market door for crypto companies. Every subsequent crypto listing—including Abra's—is measured against Coinbase's trajectory of initial hype, brutal correction, and eventual recovery tied to institutional adoption.

The SPAC bust and Bakkt's collapse (2022-2023)

2022-2023

What Happened

After 613 SPACs raised $162 billion in 2021, rising interest rates and disappointing results from merged companies caused a market-wide reckoning. De-SPAC companies lost an average of 67% of their value. Crypto exchange Bakkt, which went public through a SPAC in October 2021, lost more than 90% from its post-merger highs.

Outcome

Short Term

SPAC activity collapsed to just 31 deals raising $3.9 billion in 2023. Many de-SPACed companies filed for bankruptcy. Both Circle and Bullish abandoned SPAC mergers.

Long Term

The bust reshaped the SPAC market. Survivors adopted stricter standards—real revenue targets, larger minimum cash conditions, institutional-grade due diligence—a model sometimes called 'SPAC 4.0.' But reputational damage lingers, and most successful crypto companies now choose traditional listings.

Why It's Relevant Today

Abra is choosing the SPAC route at a time when its peers have overwhelmingly preferred traditional initial public offerings. The 2022-2023 bust is the direct reason that choice carries extra scrutiny—and why the deal's redemption rate and post-listing performance will be watched as a test of whether crypto SPACs can work in the post-bust era.

Circle's SPAC-to-IPO journey (2021-2025)

July 2021 - June 2025

What Happened

Stablecoin issuer Circle announced a SPAC merger with Concord Acquisition Corp in July 2021 at a valuation that eventually reached $9 billion. The deal collapsed in late 2022 as the crypto and SPAC markets simultaneously cratered.

Outcome

Short Term

Circle spent two years rebuilding its public-market case, continuing to grow USDC stablecoin adoption and strengthening regulatory relationships.

Long Term

Circle completed a traditional initial public offering in June 2025 at an $18 billion valuation—double its failed SPAC price—with 25 to 30 times oversubscription. The journey demonstrated that patience and a traditional listing could deliver far better results than rushing through a SPAC.

Why It's Relevant Today

Circle's arc is the clearest precedent for evaluating Abra's SPAC choice. Circle tried a SPAC, failed, waited, and achieved a vastly better outcome through a traditional listing. Abra's decision to go the SPAC route anyway raises the question of whether Abra lacks the revenue profile or investor confidence to follow Circle's path.

Sources

(10)
+4
CoinDesk The Block Decrypt Cointelegraph SEC Yahoo Finance PitchBook Morningstar Foley & Lardner Yahoo Finance