Catenaa, Wednesday, December 11, 2024-Coincheck, Japan’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, will debut on Nasdaq on Wednesday through a merger with Thunder Bridge Capital, marking a significant milestone for the global crypto industry.
The de-SPAC transaction will create Coincheck Group N.V., with an initial implied market capitalization of approximately $1.3 billion. Trading under the ticker CNCK, the move positions Coincheck as the second crypto exchange to go public in the US, following Coinbase’s direct listing in 2021.
Thunder Bridge IV, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), raised $230 million in its 2021 IPO, paving the way for this merger.
Coincheck stated that the public listing aims to attract international investors, recruit global talent, and drive acquisitions to expand its crypto asset business.
The listing caps a journey that began in 2022 but faced delays due to tighter SPAC disclosure rules. Coincheck’s parent company, Monex Group, which acquired the exchange in 2018 for $33.6 million, continues to oversee operations. Advisors for the deal include Galaxy Digital, Barclays, and J.P. Morgan Securities.
Coincheck’s history includes a 2018 hack that resulted in the loss of $530 million worth of NEM tokens. The exchange reimbursed all 260,000 affected users, solidifying its reputation in Japan’s tightened regulatory environment.
