Crypto asset custody giant BitGo has officially filed for an IPO, planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "BTGO." It is widely regarded as the first major "crypto custody stock." As an established Web3 infrastructure service provider founded in 2013, BitGo’s growth trajectory is no accident but an inevitable outcome driven by the wave of institutionalization.
BitGo initially started with multi-signature wallets and private key management, primarily serving early Bitcoin adopters. As institutional capital entered the market, the company gradually expanded into a full-stack business, including qualified custody, self-custody wallets, liquidity services, and API technology. As of June 2025, BitGo serves 4,600 institutions and 1.1 million users across over 100 countries, with nearly $100 billion in assets under custody. It has also established partnerships with traditional financial giants like Goldman Sachs.
Financially, the company exhibits a "high revenue, low profit" structure. In the first half of 2025, revenue reached $4.19 billion, surging nearly fourfold year-over-year, but net profit was only $12.6 million, down nearly 60% year-over-year. The decline is attributed to high investments in technology R&D, compliance reviews, and global licensing, which compress short-term profits but pave the way for long-term scalable growth. Clearly, BitGo has adopted an expansion strategy of "trading profits for market share."
Among listed crypto companies, Coinbase, Bakkt, and Galaxy Digital also offer custody services, but it is not their core business. BitGo’s advantage lies in its pure-play positioning, free from the constraints of exchange operations. If the IPO is successful, it will set an industry benchmark and may encourage peers like Anchorage and Fireblocks to accelerate their own IPO plans. BitGo’s "neutral platform" characteristic, in particular, allows it to serve as a trusted backend provider for various parties without relying on a single exchange or blockchain ecosystem.
As traditional capital, including sovereign wealth funds, insurance institutions, and family offices, accelerates its entry into the crypto market, the demand for compliant and secure custody is growing stronger. In the future, custody services will evolve into API-driven underlying financial infrastructure, deeply integrating payment, clearing, risk management, and auditing functions. If Coinbase’s IPO marked the arrival of the "trading era," then BitGo’s IPO symbolizes the dawn of the "compliant custody era." Its market performance will serve as a key indicator of the maturity of crypto infrastructure.
