UNITED STATES - JUNE 3: SEC Chairman Paul Atkins testifies during the Senate Appropriations ... More Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government hearing titled "A Review of the President's FY2026 Budget Request for the Securities and Exchange Commission," in Dirksen building on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Public markets are springing back to life. The crypto industry, considering its reputation for disrupting the legacy system, is actually breathing life back into it. The exuberance of the oversubscribed Circle ($CRCL) IPO, whose share price skyrocketed nearly 10x after its public debut, has catalyzed excitement for the crypto companies across Wall Street. It’s no surprise that Gemini, FalconX, and Bullish are among the crypto firms preparing for IPOs of their own. There’s a simultaneous flurry of special purpose acquisition companies and reverse mergers of public companies rushing to the market, especially those busily acquiring crypto assets on their balance sheets. Meanwhile, podcaster Eleanor Terrett reported the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is exploring ways to streamline crypto exchange-traded fund applications to forgo the required 19b-4 filing. When it comes to crypto companies, public markets are open for business.

Despite this recent glimmer of hope, injected by crypto bull market excitement, overall public companies are struggling. In his 2024 letter to shareholders, JPM CEO Jamie Dimon said, “Our public markets have been shrinking dramatically, which I do not believe is a good thing. The number of public companies has gone from 7,300 in 1996 to 4,000 today – it should be 15,000 today.”

Blaming overly zealous regulation, Dimon continued: “Regulations should encourage, rather than discourage, companies to go public.” In 2024, 176 companies in the U.S. raised a mere

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