Gemini Co-founders Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss attend the company's IPO at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, U.S., September 12, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
Gemini Co-founders Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss attend the company's IPO at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, U.S., September 12, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
Gemini Co-founders Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss attend the company's IPO at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, U.S., September 12, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
A screen displays the Nasdaq logo, in New York City, U.S., September 12, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
Gemini Co-founders Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss speak during an interview at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, U.S., September 12, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

By Pritam Biswas, Ateev Bhandari and Hannah Lang

(Reuters) - Gemini Space Station shares jumped 32.2% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday, giving the cryptocurrency exchange a valuation of $4.4 billion and capping a bright week for digital asset companies in a resurgent U.S. IPO market.

The company's shares opened at $37.01, above an already raised IPO price of $28 apiece, at which it raised $425 million by selling around 15.2 million shares. The company marketed the IPO in the price range of between $24 and $26.

Gemini's strong debut underlines how crypto firms have anchored the recent sharp rebound in the IPO market, as friendly regulatory policies and rapid institutional adoption have renewed investor optimism for digital assets.

On Thursday, blockchain lender Figure had a blockbuster market debut, close on the heels of cryptocurrency exchange Bullish, whose shares more than doubled on their first trade last month.

Meanwhile, the U.S. IPO market is reaping the benefits of fading tariff anxiety and a strong stock market to have its busiest week since July 2021.

Swedish fintech firm Klarna went public on Wednesday in a hotly anticipated debut that could set the stage for more fintech hopefuls.

"Gemini has chosen the perfect time to capitalize on the favorable environment, following the recent success of the Bullish IPO and regulatory shifts from a pro-crypto administration. For Gemini, the IPO is both a bid to raise capital for expansion and an effort to clean up its balance sheet," said Jacob Zuller, analyst at Third Bridge.

GRIT TO GEMINI

Following an IPO that was 20 times oversubscribed, the debut marks a striking turnaround for Gemini and its founders, billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss own about 75 million shares after Gemini's IPO, worth roughly $2.78 billion according to Reuters' calculations based on SEC filings.

The company, once entangled in regulatory probes with the SEC and CFTC, has benefited from eased oversight of the crypto sector under U.S. President Donald Trump, who, along with family, has been an active player in the still nascent slice of finance.

Gemini reported a net loss of $282.5 million in the first half of 2025, up considerably from $41.4 million in the year-ago period.

Experts at Third Bridge said trading volumes are expected to rise, driven by institutional adoption, which represents the majority of the company's client base.

"We're really excited to go into this next phase, improve transparency even further, to the marketplace and to our partners, and build upon the ethos that we've had for the past decade," said Dan Chen, Gemini's chief financial officer, in an interview with Reuters.

Highlighting rising institutional interest, Nasdaq earlier in the week disclosed a $50 million strategic investment in Gemini that also likely boosted investor confidence.

New York City-based Gemini joins Coinbase and Bullish as a publicly listed cryptocurrency exchange in the country. Robinhood also operates as a digital asset exchange platform among its other financial services.

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas and Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru, Hannah Lang and Echo Wang in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Vijay Kishore)