Crypto custodian BitGo Holdings entered public markets with a volatile first session that reflected both strong early demand and rapid profit-taking. BitGo’s Class A shares began trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BTGO after pricing its initial public offering at $18 per share, above the marketed range of $15 to $17.
The offering raised about $212.8 million and valued the company at more than $2 billion. Shares jumped as much as 36% shortly after the open and reached an intraday high of $24.50. Momentum faded through the afternoon session, with BTGO closing regular trading at $18.49, up roughly 2.7% on the day. Pre-market trading placed the stock near $18.31, according to Google Finance.
The session marked the first major crypto-related listing of 2026. The move came amid signs of stabilizing U.S. regulatory conditions for digital asset firms.
Institutional interest underpins pricing and structure
BitGo offered 11,821,595 Class A common shares. Of that total, 11,026,365 shares came directly from the company, while 795,230 shares came from existing stockholders. Underwriters received a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.77 million additional shares. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup served as lead book-running managers, supported by a syndicate of global financial firms.
The above-range pricing reflected robust institutional demand for regulated crypto infrastructure companies. BitGo has positioned itself as a core service provider rather than a trading venue, with a focus on custody, wallet infrastructure, staking, and settlement.
Founded in 2013, BitGo ranks among the largest crypto custodians in the United States. The company reports more than $100 billion in assets on its platform and serves thousands of institutional clients across more than 100 countries.
Regulatory backdrop supports public market access
BitGo’s listing followed recent regulatory progress. In December 2025, the company received approval for a U.S. banking charter alongside Ripple and Circle. The approval allows these firms to operate as federally regulated trust banks, a development that reshaped investor perceptions of compliance-focused crypto infrastructure.
Several industry peers now weigh similar paths. Custody rival Anchorage Digital, exchanges such as Kraken and Bitpanda, and multiple infrastructure firms have signaled interest in potential IPOs later this year.
Ondo tokenizes BitGo shares on IPO day
On the same day as BitGo’s public debut, Ondo Finance launched on-chain exposure to the stock. The product, known as BTGOon, provides economic exposure to BitGo’s publicly traded shares through Ondo Global Markets.
The announcement came on Jan. 22 and extended Ondo’s tokenized equities offering to Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain. Eligible non-U.S. users can trade exposure to BitGo shares five days a week through blockchain-based infrastructure.
Just went public. Tokenized on day one.
— Ondo Finance (@OndoFinance) January 22, 2026
Following its public debut on the NYSE today, tokenized BitGo will be accessible via Ondo Global Markets.
BTGOon will be live onchain alongside hundreds of Ondo tokenized stocks & ETFs. pic.twitter.com/VihI08qPq2
Rather than distributing dividends directly, BTGOon reinvests them into the token while tracking the performance of the underlying shares. The launch narrowed the timing gap between traditional equity listings and blockchain-native access.
Since its 2025 launch, Ondo Global Markets has recorded more than $6.4 billion in cumulative trading volume and over $500 million in total value locked. Ondo’s broader ecosystem now exceeds $2 billion in total value locked, according to rwa.xyz data, driven primarily by tokenized U.S. Treasuries and yield products such as OUSG.
YZi Labs backs BitGo as strategic IPO investor
YZi Labs, the investment firm backed by Changpeng Zhao, confirmed participation in BitGo’s IPO as a strategic institutional investor. The firm did not disclose the size of its stake.
In a Thursday announcement, YZi Labs said its participation reflected a conviction that U.S.-regulated crypto infrastructure will be "inevitably vital" as institutional capital moves onto digital asset rails. The firm cited BitGo’s regulated trust structure and security track record as key differentiators.
"BitGo has maintained a hack-free security record for over a decade, a testament to the technical foundation laid by its inventor and CEO, Mike Belshe — not only a Bitcoin OG but a pioneer architect of the modern web through his early work at Netscape and Google Chrome," said Ella Zhang, head of YZi Labs.
BitGo CEO Mike Belshe framed the investment as a long-term alignment.
"YZi Labs' strategic investment is not just a backing; it is a shared commitment to a future built on compliant, institutional-grade infrastructure," he said. "By combining BitGo's no-compromises approach to security technology with Binance and BNB ecosystem's global market reach, we are setting the standard for how the world's capital enters this space."
Market response reflects early volatility, not valuation reset
BTGO’s first session showed sharp intraday movement without a sustained break from its IPO price. This pattern fits early trading behavior for infrastructure-focused listings rather than consumer-facing crypto firms.
As public markets digest BitGo’s valuation and regulated positioning, attention now shifts to execution, revenue durability, and broader appetite for crypto infrastructure equities in 2026.
Roman Zaika
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