NEW YORK: Billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss saw their cryptocurrency exchange Gemini soar on its Nasdaq debut, with shares jumping 32.2% to give the company a market valuation of $4.4 billion, underscoring renewed investor appetite for digital assets.
Gemini’s stock opened at $37.01, well above its IPO price of $28 per share, after raising $425 million from the sale of about 15.2 million shares. The offering had already been upsized from an initial range of $24 to $26, and was reportedly 20 times oversubscribed.
Riding the IPO rebound
The strong debut comes amid a resurgent U.S. IPO market, marking its busiest week since July 2021. Crypto firms have been at the forefront:
- Blockchain lender Figure (FIGR.O) staged a blockbuster debut on Thursday.
- Exchange Bullish saw its shares more than double last month.
- Swedish fintech Klarna (KLAR.N) also hit the market this week in a highly anticipated listing.
“Gemini has chosen the perfect time to capitalize on the favorable environment, following the recent success of the Bullish IPO and regulatory shifts from a pro-crypto administration,” said Jacob Zuller, analyst at Third Bridge. “For Gemini, the IPO is both a bid to raise capital for expansion and an effort to clean up its balance sheet.”
Winklevoss stake and institutional lift
Post-IPO, the Winklevoss twins retain ownership of around 75 million shares, worth approximately $2.78 billion, according to SEC filings.
Despite past regulatory entanglements with the SEC and CFTC, Gemini has benefited from an easing of oversight under the current administration. The exchange also drew a $50 million strategic investment from Nasdaq earlier this week, a move analysts say bolstered market confidence.
Chief financial officer Dan Chen told Reuters: “We’re really excited to go into this next phase, improve transparency even further, to the marketplace and to our partners, and build upon the ethos that we’ve had for the past decade.”
Gemini reported a net loss of $282.5 million in H1 2025, widening sharply from $41.4 million a year earlier. Still, analysts expect trading volumes to climb, driven by rising institutional adoption — already the majority of Gemini’s client base.
The New York-based company now joins Coinbase (COIN.O) and Bullish as publicly listed crypto exchanges in the U.S., alongside Robinhood (HOOD.O) which also operates a digital asset business.
