Crypto IPO market stalls as capital rotates to AI and macro uncertainty weighs

The market for crypto initial public offerings has slowed sharply as investors rotate capital into other sectors and growing macroeconomic uncertainty dampens appetite for risk assets, according to Christian Lopez, head of blockchain and digital assets at investment bank Cohen & Company Capital Markets.

"The IPO market is a bit slower in the crypto space for obvious reasons," Lopez told CoinDesk in an interview, pointing to last October's liquidity event as a turning point that drained capital from the digital asset ecosystem.

Retail investors who once fueled crypto markets have largely shifted their attention to artificial intelligence, he says, before expanding into other areas of the technology sector, including the so-called Mag 7 stocks. More recently, however, even AI-related equities have experienced sharp pullbacks, suggesting capital is rotating once again.

Crypto firms entered 2026 expecting a banner year for IPOs after successful listings by Circle (CRCL) and Bullish (BLSH), CoinDesk's parent company.

But weaker market conditions, softer trading volumes and disappointing post-listing performances, including BitGo's (BTGO), have since cooled enthusiasm for new offerings. Several major crypto firms, including Kraken parent Payward, Ethereum app builder Consensys, wallet provider Ledger and asset manager Grayscale, have all delayed IPO plans while waiting for markets to improve. Others are still moving ahead. Blockchain.com said in May it confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CoinDesk reported in May that crypto trading platform FalconX had also filed a draft S-1 registration with the SEC, the initial step toward a potential public listing.

Broader macro backdrop are weighing on sentiment, Lopez says. Uncertainty over interest rates has made investors particularly cautious toward high-beta assets such as crypto. While signals from the Federal Reserve and the Trump administration point toward a more deflationary environment that could eventually support rate cuts, global markets continue to face pressure from central bank actions and deleveraging, including recent moves by the Bank of Japan to defend the yen.

"Investors are hesitant to back a stock in an IPO because they're worried about whether there will be support in the aftermarket," according to Lopez.

He says the market may not meaningfully reopen for crypto listings until next year, citing expectations that bitcoin's BTC $64,178.18 market cycle could bottom around October, noting that the broader crypto market has tended to follow the world's largest cryptocurrency's performance.

Despite these headwinds Lopez says regulatory clarity is no longer the primary obstacle for companies considering public listings.

"That's less relevant than before. Companies went public before there was regulatory clarity," he said. "For companies like Bullish, Circle or BitGo, it's more about access to capital than regulation."

Kraken's reported plans to pursue a public listing illustrate how crypto firms are adapting, Lopez says. The exchange has sought to diversify beyond crypto trading, a strategy he believes better positions companies for public markets.

"The right thing to do is become more diversified rather than being just a crypto trading business," he says.

Despite near-term weakness in crypto funding markets, Lopez says blockchain technology continues to gain traction across traditional finance. Major financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley (MS), Nasdaq (NDAQ) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), are building blockchain-based infrastructure and preparing for tokenized settlement.

The industry is moving toward near-instant settlement, shifting from T+1 to T+0, while initiatives such as the OpenUSD network are bringing together more than 140 financial institutions and payments companies around stablecoin infrastructure, he says.

Lopez expects the long-term winners to be blockchain infrastructure providers rather than businesses built solely around individual cryptocurrencies.

"A lot of crypto companies trying to raise capital in the private markets are finding it difficult because of their singular focus on one product offering," he says.

While Lopez expects bitcoin, ether (ETH) and solana (SOL) along with a handful of other major tokens to remain important assets, he predicts that thousands of smaller cryptocurrencies are unlikely to survive.

"We'll probably see the long tail of cryptocurrencies tighten over the next three to five years," he added.