Berkshire Hathaway Backed Crypto-Friendly Bank, Plans $2B IPO on Nasdaq

Nubank, a Brazilian crypto-friendly digital bank is reportedly planning an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq. Nubank is backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, and offers investments in a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Nubank, or Nu Pagamentos SA as it’s also known, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of more than $2 billion on the Nasdaq stock exchange for the end of this year, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

Nubank is backed by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. In June, Berkshire invested $500 million in the Sao Paulo-based digital bank which has more than 40 million clients throughout Latin America.

Nubank may seek a valuation of more than $40 billion, according to sources close to the matter. However, details may change as discussions are still ongoing. The bank was valued at $10.4 billion after a private fundraising in early 2019 but its valuation soared to $30 billion by June after the $500 million investment by Berkshire.

If valued at $40 billion, Nubank could become the second most valuable financial institution in Latin America. The most valuable is currently Brazil’s Itau Unibanco Holding SA with a $55 billion market value, followed by Banco Bradesco SA with about $41 billion.

Banks handling the share sale in the planned IPO include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., and UBS Group AG.

Nubank is known as a crypto-friendly bank. It offers investments in a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) via Easynvest, a trading platform it acquired and renamed to “Easynvest by Nubank” earlier this year.

The bitcoin ETF offered by Easynvest is QBTC11 by QR Asset Management. It was the first bitcoin ETF approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM). It is listed on the B3 stock exchange, one of the largest stock exchanges in Latin America and the second oldest in Brazil.

Citing Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio, Nubank explained on the Easynvest website: “A quick [online] search is enough to discover that even billionaires like Elon Musk and Ray Dalio have already taken an interest in this type of asset.” The bank further wrote: