In brief
- A newly formed black check firm is linked to Kraken.
- The company seeks a $250 million public offering.
- Kraken raised $800 million last year.
KRAKacquisition Corp., a newly formed special purpose acquisition company (or SPAC), proposed a $250 million public offering in a registration statement filed on Monday.
The Cayman Islands-based firm, which is sponsored by an affiliate of crypto exchange Kraken, would offer 25 million units at $10 a piece, according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The units comprise one Class A share and a fraction of a warrant that allows purchases to acquire more of the company’s stock.
The blank check firm said it aims to list shares on the Nasdaq, which would trade under the ticker symbol “KRAQU.” Eventually, the firm’s Class A shares and warrants would change hands separately, respectively under the ticker symbols “KRAQ” and “KRAQW.”
The company said that it may pursue a merger with “any business or industry,” without having selected a target yet. Still, the company’s sponsor was formed in partnership with Kraken and venture capital firms Tribe Capital and Natural Capital.
The filing lists Santander as the KRAKacquisition’s sole book-running manager, meaning that the Spanish multinational bank would be solely in charge of managing the securities offering.
In November, Kraken said that it had raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation, with backing from Tribe Capital alongside Wall Street giants Jane Street and DRW Venture Capital.
With regulatory tailwinds at the industry’s back following President Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024, a panoply of crypto-native firms first went public last year. That included stablecoin issuer Circle, crypto exchange Gemini, and fintech Figure Technologies.
On Monday, BitGo, which specializes in safeguarding digital assets, filed for a $200 million public offering. The firm says it manages around $104 billion in assets. Last month, the firm gained conditional approval for a national trust banking charter, alongside other crypto firms.
Kraken said in November that it had confidentially filed a registration statement with the SEC, after months of speculation that the company could pursue a public offering. Last year, the company also moved its headquarters to Wyoming from California.
KRAKacquisition’s investment thesis references inflation, arguing that an erosion of the U.S. dollar’s purchasing power reinforces the role of “hard assets as hedges.” The filing then highlights Bitcoin’s emerging role as “a decentralized store of value.”
As an affiliate of Kraken, KRAKacquisition also underscored the crypto exchange’s deep ties throughout the industry, regulatory expertise, and years of risk management.
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