CoinDesk
Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. equity strategist Ben Snider told the bank's Exchanges podcast on Tuesday that the 2026 U.S. IPO rebound is real but a "far cry" from the speculative excess that defined the dot-com era. Roughly 50 companies have priced in the U.S. so far this year, about double the same stretch a year earlier, and by deal value issuance has already hit roughly $120 billion by mid-year, matching the full-year record set in 2021.
Snider flagged familiar late-cycle signals: elevated equity valuations, strong investor confidence and AI as a dominant investment theme. He anchored his caution in a single metric: deal count. The U.S. has averaged about 100 IPOs a year over the past quarter century, compared with more than 250 in 2021 and nearly 400 at the height of the dot-com boom in 1999.
Why it matters
For crypto, the dot-com comparison lands on the wrong side of the ledger. Payward (parent of Kraken), Consensys, Ledger and Grayscale have all delayed or paused listing plans this year as volatile digital-asset markets, weaker trading volumes and lacklustre post-listing performance cooled investor appetite, according to CoinDesk reporting.
That pullback reverses expectations set earlier in 2026, when executives anticipated a wave of crypto listings following successful debuts by Circle (CRCL) and Bullish (BLSH). The crypto-specific IPO drought is happening even as broader IPO activity accelerates.
Market impact
Capital rotation is the throughline. Blockbuster AI-related listings such as SpaceX are giving institutional growth-money a non-crypto destination, weighing on tokens, crypto-linked equities and the appetite for new digital-asset listings. Snider's framework matters for crypto allocators because it isolates the metric that separates a healthy issuance cycle from a euphoric one. On his read, the U.S. market is in the former, which leaves room for further AI-led activity to siphon marginal demand away from digital assets in the near term.
Frequently asked questions
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What did Goldman Sachs say about the 2026 IPO market?
Chief U.S. equity strategist Ben Snider said the 2026 rebound is strong but "a far cry" from dot-com euphoria. By deal value, issuance has hit roughly $120B at mid-year, matching 2021's full-year record, but by count only about 50 companies have priced versus nearly 400 in 1999.
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How many IPOs has the U.S. priced in 2026 so far?
Roughly 50 companies have gone public in the U.S. so far in 2026, about double the number during the same period a year earlier, according to Goldman Sachs research.
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Which crypto companies have paused their IPO plans?
Payward, the parent of Kraken, Consensys, hardware-wallet maker Ledger, and digital-asset manager Grayscale have all delayed or paused listing plans in 2026 amid volatile crypto markets and softer investor demand, according to CoinDesk reporting.
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Why are crypto IPOs stalling while broader IPO activity accelerates?
Blockbuster AI-related listings such as SpaceX are giving institutional growth capital a non-crypto destination, while lacklustre post-listing performance from recent crypto debuts and weaker trading volumes have cooled investor appetite for new digital-asset listings.
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What is Goldman's key metric for spotting bubble-level euphoria?
Snider anchored his caution in deal count rather than dollar value. The U.S. has averaged about 100 IPOs a year over the past 25 years, versus more than 250 in 2021 and nearly 400 at the dot-com peak in 1999, suggesting the current pace is normal rather than euphoric.
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