Mike Novogratz’s crypto firm Galaxy Digital started trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker GLXY. The stock opened at $23.50 per share on the U.S. exchange.
Galaxy Digital, which has been traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange since 2020, shifted its shares to the Nasdaq through a direct listing — a move that follows a grueling, multiyear battle with U.S. regulators.
Novogratz told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday that Galaxy’s value now hinges on two high-growth areas: crypto and artificial intelligence.
“These are the two most exciting growth areas in markets, right. AI and the infrastructure needed for AI to exist and crypto finally … at the brink of institutional adoption,” he said. “We have built our company for this moment, so I couldn’t be more excited.”
Novogratz said Galaxy is effectively two businesses now: “We are a data center company and a crypto company.”
The Nasdaq listing comes after four years of regulatory delays, with Galaxy spending more than $25 million and enduring nine rounds of back-and-forth comments with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Novogratz. What should have taken at most, 90 days, stretched to 1,320, he said.
“You needed to be very well capitalized — and a pretty big, strong company — just to stay in the game,” Novogratz told CNBC.
The billionaire also pointed to the U.S. market’s unmatched depth, saying Galaxy’s visibility in Canada was one-thirtieth of what it could achieve in the United States.
“If we had been in the U.S. markets those four years, we’d be a different company,” he said.
The listing follows eToro‘s successful Nasdaq debut this week, signaling renewed investor appetite for crypto-adjacent firms after years of regulatory caution.
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