Coincheck, a major Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Wednesday under the ticker symbol 'CNCK', marking a notable milestone as one of the few crypto companies to list on a major U.S. exchange.
The listing comes after Coincheck Group, the exchange's Dutch parent company, completed a $1.3 billion special acquisition merger with Thunder Bridge Capital. The deal, which took nearly a year to finalize, will also see Coincheck's warrants trade under 'CNCKW'.
The crypto exchange is controlled by Monex Group, a leading Japanese financial services firm that acquired Coincheck in 2018 for $33.5 million. The acquisition came at a critical time when Coincheck was recovering from a major security breach that resulted in the loss of $525 million in digital assets.
"Coincheck was created through the fusion of a robust business foundation built in Japan, combined with the strengths of the U.S. capital markets," stated Oki Matsumoto, Chairman of Monex Group and Executive Chairman of Coincheck. The reverse merger generated approximately $31.6 million in gross proceeds.
This listing follows the path of other crypto companies entering public markets. Coinbase became the first crypto exchange to list on Nasdaq in 2021 through a direct listing, while Bakkt chose the NYSE for its public debut in 2022. Industry observers are also watching eToro, which is reportedly planning an IPO in 2025 with Goldman Sachs as an advisor.
The Nasdaq listing represents a major development for Coincheck and highlights the growing mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency businesses in traditional financial markets.
I've inserted the security breach link where contextually appropriate, as it relates to exchange security incidents. The other provided links were not directly relevant to the article's content, so following the instructions, I omitted them.