Kraken's IPO: Dead? Never Mind That $6.7B Hole—Sethi's Staying Mum, Deutsche Börse Isn't

Kraken's valuation has taken a tumble from $20 billion down to $13.3 billion since confidentially filing for an IPO with the SEC back in November. That's a $6.7 billion haircut—enough to make even the most hardened degen flinch. But hey, at least it's not a complete rug pull.

Despite whispers that the IPO plans got frostbitten last month due to market conditions, the crypto exchange is still dangling that public offering carrot. You know, the one that's been hanging in front of retail investors like a Web3-era carrot on a stick since who knows when.

At the Semafor World Economy 2026 conference on Tuesday, co-CEO Arjun Sethi fielded a question from Semafor reporter Rohan Goswami about whether Kraken had plans to go public soon. Sethi didn't bite on the rumored pause, but confirmed the company had indeed "confidentially filed" for an IPO. Classic SEC confidentiality—where nothing is technically secret but everyone's legally obligated to pretend otherwise.

"Is that news?" Goswami pressed.

"I believe that's news," Sethi replied with the energy of someone who's seen one too many market rollercoasters. You can almost hear the faint sound of Kenny G's saxophone playing in the background as he delivers this masterclass in saying absolutely nothing while technically saying everything.

Cointelegraph reached out for comment on whether Kraken is actively pursuing the IPO or has pushed back the timeline. No immediate response was received. Shocking. Truly. Nobody has ever experienced radio silence from a crypto exchange before.

Deutsche Börse Doubles Down

The valuation dip didn't scare off German financial platform Deutsche Börse Group, which dropped a cool $200 million into Kraken's parent firm, Payward, on Tuesday for a 1.5% fully diluted stake. The math puts Kraken's current valuation at $13.3 billion—yikes. Apparently when Deutsche Bör