Warren Buffett-Backed Brazilian Crypto Bank Plans $2B NASDAQ IPO

Brasilian cryptocurrency-supporting bank backed by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) Nubank plans to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange through an initial public offering.

What Happened: According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter revealed that the company plans to hold an IPO worth over $2 billion on Nasdaq this year.

Banks involved in the IPO include Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), and UBS Group AG. (NYSE: UBS).

Nubank’s Co-Founder David Velez recently admitted that the company was considering a public listing without disclosing further details.

Read also: Why Ray Dalio Would Pick Gold Over Bitcoin

The crypto bank may be purportedly going after a valuation exceeding $40 billion, but this number is not final since negotiations are still ongoing.

This would make the company the second most valuable financial institution in Latin America, right after Brazil’s Itau Unibanco Holding SA (NYSE: ITUB).

What It Matters: Earlier this year, Nubank acquired Brasilian digital investment firm Easynvest — which manages over $5 billion in assets for over 1.6 million clients.

Since then, the bank started offering its customers exposure to Bitcoin through Easynvest's QR Bitcoin ETF (QBTC11), and its website has a dedicated section with information about cryptocurrency and NFT trends. 

In June, Nubank managed to secure a $500 million investment from Berkshire Hathaway despite Buffett notoriously hating Bitcoin BTC/USD and cryptocurrencies.