Ledger discloses $50 million Q4 secondary sale as IPO plans remain open

Crypto hardware wallet firm Ledger disclosed that it completed a $50 million secondary share sale in the fourth quarter of last year, offering liquidity to an early investor while keeping its long-term plans flexible.

The transaction was led by CEO Pascal Gauthier, according to a Bloomberg report, with the details confirmed to The Block by a Ledger spokesperson.

Gauthier also indicated the company is not committing to a near-term public listing.

"My job is to prepare the company for all eventualities," he told Bloomberg, adding that Ledger could remain private "forever," but pursuing a public offering was still not off the table.

It follows reporting from earlier this year that Ledger was exploring a potential U.S. IPO that could value the company at more than $4 billion. Ledger last raised primary capital in 2023 at a roughly $1.5 billion valuation.

Ledger, based in France, has been working to grow its market share in the U.S., competing against rivals like Trezor and Jack Dorsey's BitKey, while still buffing up its business beyond hardware.

Research from Mordor Intelligence suggests that the crypto hardware wallet market could grow nearly 30% to over $2.5 billion by 2031 from a current $700 million.

Last week, the company named former Circle executive John Andrews as chief financial officer and opened a New York office to better work with banks, asset managers, and institutional clients.

Over the past six months or so, Ledger has also been expanding beyond its hardware business, rolling out a next-gen Nano device, a rebranded Ledger Wallet app (formerly Ledger Live), and new enterprise-focused security tools like Ledger Recover and clear signing for transactions.