By Paul R. La Monica
This new year's first big initial public offering is ready to go. BitGo, that is.
The crypto start-up, considered a unicorn because of its hefty $1 billion-plus valuation, should announce the price for its IPO late Wednesday and will begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq with the ticker symbol BTGO.
Will the stock enjoy a blockbuster debut like Circle Internet Group and a few other of last year's other crypto IPOs?
The timing could be better. Bitcoin is on a losing streak -- the longest in a year -- dragged down by two very different sets of worries: the fate of a crypto regulation bill in Washington and geopolitical tensions.
President Donald Trump's threats of new tariffs tied to the acquisition of Greenland rattled markets worldwide this week. On Wednesday, however, stocks rebounded after Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he won't use force to gain control of the icy island.
BitGo wants to sell 11.8 million shares from $15 to $17 each. The company would be valued at about $2 billion -- a unicorn in the public sphere, too -- if the share price is at the range's high end.
The crypto start-up was profitable in 2024 and the first three quarters of last year. It generates revenue from digital asset trading; staking, or rewards earned from validating crypto transactions on a blockchain; and other service fees.
If BitGo stumbles, other start-ups might rethink whether they go public this year. A few unicorns mentioned are artificial-intelligence leaders Anthropic and OpenAI, Elon Musk's SpaceX and cloud analytics firm Databricks.
Another unicorn, EquipmentShare.com, is planning to go public later this week, too.
The construction equipment rental company is expected to price its IPO late Thursday and start trading Friday on the Nasdaq with the ticker symbol of EQPT.
EquipmentShare is looking to raise $747 million from the sale of 30.5 million shares at a range of $23.50 to $25.50. At the range's high end, the company would be worth about $6.8 billion.
Write to Paul R. La Monica at paul.lamonica@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 21, 2026 11:38 ET (16:38 GMT)
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