Wall Road monetary providers agency Cantor is amongst funding banks which are pitching cryptocurrency buying and selling platform FalconX for its potential IPO, based on two folks with data of the matter.
The corporate has held preliminary talks with attainable advisors, however FalconX has not but formally appointed bankers for its preliminary public providing, the folks mentioned, who spoke on situation of anonymity because the matter is non-public.
FalconX declined to remark. Cantor didn’t reply to a request for remark by publication time.
Funding banks usually pitch firms for an IPO by presenting themselves as one of the best accomplice to take the enterprise public, combining valuation evaluation, market timing recommendation, and distribution energy.
The aim is to win the mandate by convincing the corporate that they’ll maximize valuation, guarantee a easy itemizing course of, and generate robust aftermarket efficiency. Whereas some corporations may lead the IPO course of, most offers are executed via a syndicate of a number of banks.
Final 12 months, Decrypt reported in June that FalconX had held casual talks with bankers and consultants about going public. Later within the 12 months, the corporate’s CEO, Raghu Yarlagadda, informed the Wall Road Journal that the agency was contemplating an IPO.
Nonetheless, the crypto market has been underneath strain since then, with the bitcoin value falling from an all-time excessive of $126,000 in October to close $70,000. Just lately, CoinDesk reported that crypto trade Kraken has put its IPO plans on maintain after confidentially submitting with the SEC in November, with sources saying the method will probably restart as soon as the setting improves. Thus far, digital asset custodian BitGo (BTGO) is the one crypto native agency to record this 12 months. The shares have fallen round 40% since their IPO.
Regardless of this powerful market backdrop, crypto corporations akin to FalconX and Copper are persevering with talks about potential public listings. Final 12 months, a number of crypto exchanges, together with CoinDesk guardian Bullish (BLSH) and Gemini (GEMI), went public, and trade observers say that in 2026, monetary infrastructure corporations might be subsequent in line for IPOs.
Cantor connection
Cantor and FalconX have already got an present relationship centered on institutional crypto lending, with the funding financial institution offering one of many first main credit score services to the crypto prime dealer.
In 2025, Cantor launched a $2 billion bitcoin-backed financing program and prolonged an preliminary credit score line of over $100 million to FalconX, permitting it to borrow in opposition to bitcoin collateral and entry liquidity with out promoting property. The deal is a part of a broader partnership geared toward constructing institutional-grade credit score infrastructure in digital property, reflecting rising convergence between conventional finance and crypto markets.
If Cantor wins the IPO mandate, it could probably be because of the present relationship with the buying and selling agency.
FalconX is a U.S.-based cryptocurrency buying and selling and brokerage agency that primarily serves massive institutional purchasers, together with hedge funds, asset managers, and market makers.
Based in 2018, the corporate operates as a digital asset prime dealer, providing providers together with commerce execution, liquidity entry, credit score and clearing. The corporate raised $150 million in a Collection D financing spherical in June 2022, valuing the platform at $8 billion.
Whereas no formal announcement has been made, FalconX has been scaling up forward of a possible itemizing and has pursued an aggressive acquisition technique over the previous 12 months because it builds out a full-service institutional crypto platform.
In 2025, the agency acquired derivatives specialist Arbelos Markets and took a majority stake in Monarq Asset Administration, earlier than putting a deal for crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) issuer 21Shares, its third main transaction of the 12 months. Collectively, the offers increase FalconX’s attain throughout buying and selling, derivatives, and asset administration, reflecting a broader push to consolidate infrastructure and provide extra regulated, institutional-grade funding merchandise.
Cantor has steadily expanded its footprint in digital property, positioning itself as one of many extra lively conventional finance corporations in crypto markets. The Wall Road agency manages Tether’s U.S. Treasury reserves and has backed a number of crypto ventures, whereas publicly signaling help for blockchain infrastructure and buying and selling companies.
Its rising involvement displays a broader push to bridge institutional capital with the digital asset ecosystem, significantly as extra crypto firms discover public listings.
Cantor is a world monetary providers agency headquartered in New York. Based in 1945, it’s greatest referred to as a significant participant in fixed-income buying and selling, significantly U.S. Treasuries, in addition to funding banking, brokerage, and asset administration.
Learn extra: Crypto custody agency Copper in early talks for IPO as crypto ‘plumbing’ turns into new Wall Road favourite