Host: For years, everyday investors were locked out of tech's biggest wins as multi-billion-dollar startups stayed private for longer. But while tech IPO markets remain somewhat sluggish, the institutional plumbing behind digital assets, cybersecurity compliance, and global settlement is expanding rapidly, and listed vehicles are giving public investors a way to own a piece of these private giants before they ever ring an opening bell. Well, joining us live here at the New York Stock Exchange is Naj, CEO and co-founder of C1 Fund. Naj, it's great to have you here.
Naj: Thank you so much. Great to be here.
Host: Well, hard to believe, but we're in the final quarter of 2026, and there are a lot of expectations about IPOs heading into the year, but we all know it's been quite the year. So when it comes to some of the big tech giants, are they really ready to go public?
Naj: I think, I mean, the year has been stellar, right? We've had SpaceX, which was obviously a mega IPO, 75 billion. It looks like Anthropic is also going out next month, potentially raising 100 billion. So it's been a huge year, right, comparing to 2025. And I think if these assets do well in the public markets, then 2027 looks really, really good.
Host: And as a CEO watching capital markets, we're looking at some of the unicorns out there staying private for longer, and there are both pros and cons, obviously, when we're talking about going public, especially at exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange. So why are we seeing this right now?
Naj: I think you can raise an enormous amount of capital in the private markets, right? So I think this year alone, Anthropic and OpenAI have raised collectively over $200 billion. So the incentive to go public, there is no rush. And because of the secondary market, investors can get liquidity throughout that journey. So you don't have to wait just necessarily for the IPO. You can get liquidity in the secondary market as well. So we are seeing that companies are staying private for longer, in many cases up to 10 years. But we are seeing companies like Anthropic that I think will go out this year, and then OpenAI is looking at going out next year. And then you have several other businesses in a very strong pipeline for IPOs where I think investors are looking to get access to these types of companies.
Host: Yes, and you mentioned SpaceX, and that was something that all of us were anticipating, not just here on Wall Street, but also on Main Street. And as you mentioned, OpenAI as well as Anthropic, those are the next two big IPOs that all of us are awaiting. But I do want to get your take on what we're seeing when it comes to digital assets because 2026 has been quite the year when it comes to institutional adoption, and I understand that you're focusing more on the picks-and-shovels play versus tokens. So walk us through this.
Naj: I was actually in Singapore last week for Token 2049, and, you know, 25,000 people all sort of pitching digital assets. And what was interesting was the hoodies have gone and the suits are back, right? So TradFi is in, a lot more suits, a lot more real projects, real infrastructure. The token phenomenon, I think, has sort of been parked for the time being, and people are really focused on infrastructure, right? Banks, wallets, custodians, exchanges, businesses with real business models, strong balance sheets, profitability, that are building the agentic AI economy as well for payments and rails. We obviously have a fund that gives investors exposure to those types of companies, and we're seeing strong demand and more visibility for these types of companies like Ripple, Kraken, and Polymarket and others.
Host: Yeah, and I'm glad you mentioned those names because I do want to get your take on unlocking some of these unicorns within the digital asset space. So you mentioned Kraken, Ripple, Chainalysis. So tell us about the fund playbook.
Naj: So the fund playbook is that we invest in companies, pre-IPO late-stage digital asset-focused companies. So our portfolio today includes 10 companies like Kraken, Ripple, Polymarket, Alchemy, Chainalysis, Figment, Blockchain.com. A number of those companies have already announced potential IPOs in the next 6 to 12 months. So Kraken was due to go out earlier this year, but they've pushed their IPO to next year, partly driven by market volatility, market conditions as well. We've seen Blockchain.com also make an announcement recently. And we're going to see probably companies like Chainalysis and Consensys also looking to target the public markets in the next 6 to 12 months. It's a very, very exciting time for public investors to get exposure to those types of companies, but through C1 Fund you can get exposure before they actually go public. And if you take an example like SpaceX, the real juice was created before actually SpaceX went public at a $1.75 trillion valuation. We'd invested in that business several times through different vehicles at a $50 billion valuation, $100 billion, $500 billion, $1 trillion, but there was still massive upside in the private markets before it became a public company.
Host: And some eye-watering valuations there indeed. But one thing that you just mentioned is agentic AI, and something many of us have been paying attention to for years, and it is finally here on our doorstep. So how do you think this is going to affect digital assets?
Naj: I think it's great because finally there's a use case for payments and payment rails because you need compliance, right? You need exchanges, you need liquidity, you need all of these things to make the agentic AI economy work. So companies like Kraken and Ripple and Alchemy and Consensys are providing the rails for the agentic AI economy, and being able to get exposure to those companies before they're public is exactly what C1 Fund is all about.
Host: And before I let you go, I do want to ask you about the next wave of IPOs. So you mentioned a handful of names, obviously the major ones that we're watching on Wall Street as well as on Main Street, but what are you focused on right now? Why?
Naj: So we're very passionate about companies like Tether, right, which is a huge organization. Maybe they'll go public in the next 2 to 3 years. Companies like Binance, for example. You've seen tokenization, real-world assets. There's been a lot of conversation around that. In fact, in Singapore last week, everybody was talking about on-chain digital finance, RWA tokenization. I think when you've got people like Larry Fink and even Jamie Dimon now talking about digital assets, I think it bodes well for the industry in the next 12 to 18 months.
Host: Yes, and you just came back from Asia, and we all know when we're talking about some of these trends in digital assets, the perspective is different outside of the US because we take the markets here on Wall Street for granted and access to everything we have on our smartphones. But we're talking about economies outside of the US, in the Middle East, in Asia, Europe, South America. What's the reality on the ground that you're seeing?
Naj: I think I've lived in Dubai for 16 years, Ryan. I think Dubai, the UAE, and Abu Dhabi were really pioneers in the digital asset space with very clear rules and regulation, and that has been really helpful. The US was a little bit lagging, but then sort of GENIUS came, CLARITY didn't pass, but still the largest capital market in the world. But then you've got jurisdictions like Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland all building sort of clear rules and regulations. But I'm quite excited about what's happening, particularly in the UAE. And I'm looking forward to Abu Dhabi Finance Week later this year, but we're seeing a lot of tokenization, real-world asset infrastructure now being built out of the UAE. That's super exciting.
Host: And less than 60 seconds here as we head into 2027, what should investors be watching?
Naj: They should be watching the digital asset space. I think everybody's always looking at the price of Bitcoin. It's not about that. One of the nice things is that all of our portfolio companies are profitable. Several are decacorns. Several are likely to go public in the next 6 to 12 months. So this industry is only going to increase. Brand recognition is going to increase. Not everybody has heard of companies like Ripple and Binance and Tether, and you're going to see a lot more visibility on those types of companies in the next 12 to 24 months.
Host: Well, Naj, it was great having you on the show. Thank you so much for joining us, and thank you so much for sharing your insights and your perspective.
Naj: Thank you, Remy. It's great to be here. Thank you.
