Odaily News After sitting on the sidelines, some of Wall Street’s biggest banks are plotting how to win more cryptocurrency business, betting that President Trump’s support for the industry will unleash a wave of initial public offerings, stock sales and convertible bonds.
Morgan Stanley, which previously did not dominate the space, is courting potential clients for IPOs, while executives at Bank of America are discussing potential moves to boost deals for digital asset companies, according to people familiar with the matter. Royal Bank of Canada is looking to do more business after completing its first cryptocurrency deal late last year, one of the people said.
Banks are seeking deeper ties with cryptocurrency companies to avoid missing out on trading driven by more accommodative policies under Trump. The Winklevoss twins’ Gemini is the latest crypto company to consider an IPO this year, along with Bullish, a crypto exchange operator whose backers include billionaire Peter Thiel, Circle Internet Financial Ltd. and cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, which have also been eyeing listings.
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is also active in cryptocurrency trading, advising Bullish on a potential listing along with JPMorgan Chase & Co. It is also one of the banks working on the IPO of Figure Technologies Inc., a financial technology company co-founded by former SoFi Technologies Inc. head Mike Cagney. Moelis & Co. and Cantor Fitzgerald are also among the firms active in the space.
While Morgan Stanley is not involved in Coinbase's IPO, the bank did help the company issue convertible bonds last year. One of the people familiar with the matter said the company is eager to be part of the future IPO wave. (Bloomberg)