TLDR
- BitGo’s shares reached $24.50 intraday before collapsing to $18.49, finishing barely above the $18 offering price
- The company’s NYSE listing raised $212.8 million and marks the first crypto-related IPO of 2026
- Changpeng Zhao’s YZi Labs participated as a strategic investor, highlighting BitGo’s hack-free security record
- The crypto custodian oversees more than $100 billion in assets and recently secured conditional trust bank charter approval
- Kraken and Anchorage Digital are weighing similar public market debuts later in 2026
BitGo Holdings delivered a forgettable first impression on Thursday. What started as a triumphant debut turned into a cautionary tale about volatile markets.
Shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under BTGO. The opening price of $22.43 already showed strong demand.
Bulls pushed even harder. The stock climbed to $24.50, marking a 36% premium over the $18 IPO price.
Then reality set in. Selling pressure mounted through the afternoon session.
BTGO closed at $18.49, erasing nearly all opening gains. The modest 2.7% increase left early buyers disappointed.
After-hours action brought more selling. Shares traded around $18.35 as enthusiasm continued fading.
The offering itself performed well. BitGo sold 11.8 million shares at $18 each, beating the expected $15-$17 range.
Total proceeds reached $212.8 million. The pricing gave BitGo a valuation exceeding $2 billion.
Strategic Investment From Binance Founder’s Firm
YZi Labs joined the IPO as a strategic investor. The Changpeng Zhao-backed firm sees long-term potential in regulated crypto infrastructure.
Ella Zhang, heading YZi Labs, emphasized BitGo’s security achievements. The platform hasn’t experienced a hack in over ten years of operation.
“BitGo has maintained a hack-free security record for over a decade,” Zhang explained. She attributed this success to CEO Mike Belshe’s technical expertise.
YZi Labs views BitGo as essential infrastructure for digital finance’s future. The company manages $82 billion in assets on platform.
BitGo launched in 2013 and has grown into a dominant U.S. crypto custodian. Total assets under custody now exceed $100 billion.
The platform provides custody, wallet services, staking, and settlement tools. Institutional clients rely on these services for secure asset management.
December brought another milestone. BitGo received conditional approval for a U.S. trust bank charter alongside Circle and Ripple.
IPO Pipeline Building Steam
CEO Mike Belshe positioned the listing as a trust-building exercise. “Our mission remains to deliver absolute trust to the digital asset ecosystem,” he noted.
He described YZi Labs’ backing as shared vision. The partnership combines BitGo’s security technology with Binance ecosystem’s global reach.
BitGo’s debut invites comparison with Circle’s public performance. The stablecoin issuer went public in June 2025 but has fallen more than 2% since.
Market watchers are tracking which infrastructure provider will deliver better returns. The custody sector is heating up with competition.
Multiple firms are preparing potential listings. Anchorage Digital is exploring an IPO later this year.
Kraken and Bitpanda are evaluating similar moves. Infrastructure companies across crypto are assessing public market appetite.
Regulatory clarity has improved conditions for listings. The trust bank charter approvals signal government acceptance of crypto custody.
This environment could spark more IPO activity. Companies are weighing whether to follow BitGo’s path.
BTGO represents the first major crypto listing of 2026. The stock ended its inaugural trading day at $18.49, clinging to a small gain after wild intraday swings that saw the price jump 36% before retreating almost entirely.
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