By Echo Wang
(Reuters) -Gemini Space Station, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has secured Nasdaq as a strategic investor as it moves forward with plans for a New York listing this week, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Gemini, which could raise as much as $317 million in the initial public offering, has already lined up Nasdaq to buy $50 million in shares in a private placement at the time of the IPO, the people said, asking not to be identified
because the agreement is not yet public.
The investment is part of a partnership that will give Nasdaq's clients access to Gemini's custody and staking services, the people said. Gemini's institutional clients will also have access to Nasdaq’s Calypso platform to manage and track trading collateral.
Gemini did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nasdaq declined to comment.
Gemini expects to trade on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker "GEMI".
The company’s plans are subject to market conditions and could change, the people cautioned.
The crypto exchange’s IPO comes as U.S. equity capital markets rebound, with strong demand for new listings. Eye-catching first-day performances are also encouraging more private companies to test investor appetite.
Recent listings, such as design software maker Figma and space technology firm Firefly Aerospace, drew robust investor demand on their first day of trading.
Digital asset companies have also featured prominently in the IPO market in recent months, including blockbuster debuts from stablecoin issuer Circle and cryptocurrency exchange Bullish.
Gemini’s flotation would make it the third publicly traded crypto exchange after Bullish and Coinbase, the first crypto exchange to join the S&P 500.
Gemini is among the biggest U.S. crypto trading platforms by trading volume, according to data provider Kaiko. It holds $21 billion in assets and has handled $285 billion in lifetime trading volume.
The exchange operates an over-the-counter trading desk, offers a U.S. credit card and supports a range of digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoins. It serves both retail and institutional investors, generating most of its revenue from transaction fees.
Gemini reported a net loss of $282.5 million on revenue of $68.6 million for the six months ended June 30, compared with a net loss of $41.4 million on $74.3 million a year earlier, according to an earlier filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Winklevoss brothers, who gained fame after settling a 2008 legal dispute with Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, earned the nickname “Bitcoin twins” after investing part of their settlement in the cryptocurrency and becoming among the world’s first crypto billionaires.
(Reporting by Echo Wang in New York; Editing by Dawn Kopecki and Christopher Cushing)
