Crypto exchange Blockchain.com is exploring an IPO

Crypto exchange Blockchain.com is discussing an IPO that may start by the end of 2022. Founded in 2011, London-based Blockchain.com is one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, worth $14 billion in a funding round in March.

Negotiations are in the early stages and the exchange may still change its plans. According to the report, the IPO may not take place until next year without identifying where the listing may take place.

The move was welcomed as a game-changer in the industry when Coinbase became the first crypto exchange to go public on Nasdaq with a $100 billion IPO a year ago. Since then, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken said in June that it was also considering a public launch.

One-third of Bitcoin network transactions take place on Blockchain.com and have approximately 37 million verified users, the company's website states. Global IPO activity in the first quarter of 2022 was significantly lower than in the previous year, according to EY data. It also found that there were 321 transactions totaling $54.4 billion, down 37% and 51%, respectively.

January 2022 was the strongest start month for IPO revenues in over 20 years, but overall activity plummeted in the second half of the quarter due to volatile market conditions. Markets have been destabilized by the Federal Reserve's plans for several rate hikes and the Russian war in Ukraine.