October 29, 2025 - According to Axios, Consensys plans to go public and has selected J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs as the lead underwriters for its Initial Public Offering (IPO). This listing will become one of the most significant public offerings by an Ethereum infrastructure company to date.

A Consensys spokesperson stated that currently, there is "no news to share, but the company continuously evaluates various development strategies. The company is always exploring opportunities to expand its influence." Although the official stance remains cautious, the market has widely regarded this planned IPO as an important indicator of the crypto industry's maturation.

This article outlines Consensys' business lines, reviews Consensys' glory journey, and analyzes the multiple factors favoring its listing.

I. The Path of Consensys: Six Businesses Lighting the Way

Consensys was founded in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin with the mission of building core infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem. Over the past decade, Consensys has continuously expanded its business lines, evolving from an Ethereum developer community incubator into a diversified Ethereum infrastructure giant encompassing wallets, developer tools, enterprise services, Layer-2 networks, and ecosystem investments.

1. MetaMask
   MetaMask is Consensys' star product. Since its launch in 2016, it has become the primary gateway for tens of millions of users to interact with multiple blockchains like Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, and Solana.

MetaMask provides features such as account management, dApp connectivity, NFT storage, DeFi trading, and hardware wallet support. As a consumer-facing gateway, it provides Consensys with the most direct brand recognition and user traffic base.

On August 21 this year, MetaMask announced the official launch of its native stablecoin, MetaMask USD (mUSD). MetaMask stated that mUSD would be issued by Bridge, the stablecoin issuance platform owned by Stripe, and minted via M0's decentralized infrastructure. On October 8, MetaMask announced the official launch of Perps trading on its mobile application. On October 28, MetaMask stated that multi-chain accounts had been launched, improving user asset loading speeds by 30 times.

2. Linea
   On March 28, 2023, ConsenSys opened the testnet doors to all developers, users, or protocols and officially renamed ConsenSys zkEVM to Linea. Linea is Consensys' self-developed zkEVM Layer-2 scaling solution, aiming to reduce Ethereum transaction costs and improve execution efficiency. Built on zk-rollup technology, Linea is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, allowing developers to migrate applications directly without code modifications. Linea is deeply integrated with MetaMask and Infura; users can access it seamlessly through the wallet, and developers can connect to the network directly using Infura.

On July 29, Linea announced it would become the first Layer-2 network to implement the Ethereum burn mechanism at the protocol level, with the platform burning 20% of net transaction fees. Linea also released its token distribution plan, allocating 85% of tokens for ecosystem construction, including 75% for the development fund and 10% for early user incentives. On September 10, Linea officially conducted its TGE.

On October 21, ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin stated, "We will bring the next-generation tokenomics platform and launchpad to @LineaBuild. Moreover, if we can accelerate the global penetration of prediction markets like @Polymarket and @MyriadMarkets, we can integrate collective intelligence and market forces into the governance and decision-making processes at all levels of society."

3. Infura
   Infura is a blockchain infrastructure platform launched in 2016. It provides stable API and node access services for Ethereum, IPFS, and Layer-2s. Seen as the "AWS of Ethereum," it supports mainstream applications like Uniswap, Aave, MetaMask, and OpenSea.

Infura provides developers with reliable RPC access, enabling them to deploy and run dApps without building their own nodes. On October 6, Consensys founder and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin stated that a "token-driven economy" is coming to Consensys' product suite, including Infura.

4. Besu
   In 2018, Consensys Besu (formerly PegaSys) was introduced, aiming to create an enterprise-grade Ethereum client supporting both public and permissioned (private) chain deployment scenarios. In August 2019, the PegaSys team formally donated its core product, Pantheon, to the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger project, renaming it Hyperledger Besu. In 2020, Consensys continued to lead Besu's R&D and commercial support, integrating it into Consensys' enterprise services division and providing long-term maintenance, security audits, and compliance consulting.

J.P. Morgan collaborated with Consensys on its Onyx blockchain platform, utilizing Besu technology for enterprise network construction; the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the French Central Bank's digital bond pilot project also employed a private chain architecture based on Besu.

5. Codefi
   In September 2019, ConsenSys launched Codefi. Codefi is Consensys' enterprise-grade fintech platform dedicated to helping banks, asset management companies, and corporate clients build asset management, settlement, and compliance processes on the blockchain. Codefi has participated in the French Central Bank's digital currency experiments, technical collaborations with J.P. Morgan's Onyx project, and pilot on-chain bond issuances with several European banks.

6. Mesh
   In February 2020, Lubin announced the establishment of Consensys Mesh, "a global decentralized startup ecosystem network," aiming to support the Ethereum ecosystem through investment, incubation, and accelerator programs. Mesh has invested in projects like Gitcoin, Livepeer, Phantom, and MetaMask Snaps, focusing on infrastructure, DeFi, DAO, NFT, and privacy computing.

II. The Time is Right: Consensys Faces the Listing Window

1. Wave of Crypto Company Listings
   On June 5 this year, Circle listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Industry insiders pointed out that the success of a large-scale IPO like Circle's could stimulate other companies to quickly follow in the footsteps of stablecoins. Companies such as Ionic Digital, Gemini Space Station, Inc., and BitGo, Inc. have all submitted IPO applications. The successful IPO paths of Circle and Coinbase are providing a reference for crypto companies.

2. Continuously Relaxing Regulatory Policies
   Under the Trump administration, the U.S. attitude towards cryptocurrency has become more friendly. The SEC has approved spot Bitcoin ETFs and dismissed multiple lawsuits against crypto companies. Simultaneously, Congress is advancing stablecoin legislation, laying a clearer compliance framework for the entire industry. Five days ago, Trump also appointed Mike Selig as CFTC Chairman to advance the modernization of U.S. cryptocurrency regulation.

Additionally, Trump himself "leads by example" and is a vested interest in cryptocurrency. According to a Financial Times investigation, Trump and his family gained over $1 billion in pre-tax profits from cryptocurrency businesses in the past year. The investigation revealed that the Trump family's crypto empire includes various projects such as digital trading cards, Meme coins, stablecoins, tokens, and decentralized finance platforms.

3. Entry of Traditional Financial Institutions
   Giants like BlackRock and Visa not only support cryptocurrency companies but also proactively launch cryptocurrency-related businesses. For example, BlackRock planned to participate in Circle's IPO with an amount exceeding $150 million. BlackRock's move not only provided Circle with a significant trust endorsement but also signaled to the market that "traditional finance is willing and prepared to engage with crypto asset companies." Yesterday, Visa just announced plans to support four different stablecoins on four different blockchains; on July 30, the CEO of Visa (V.N) stated: The best way to spend stablecoins is through Visa. The entry of traditional financial institutions helps evolve the crypto narrative from the fringe to the mainstream and can reduce financing difficulties for crypto companies, benefiting industry development.

III. Conclusion

The sensational effect brought by Circle's listing can be seen as a successful case of the genuine integration of crypto finance and traditional finance. Over the past year, crypto-native companies like Circle, Galaxy Digital, eToro, and Exodus have successively gone public, marking the entry of digital asset businesses into the mainstream financial sector.

For ordinary investors, this wave brings more investment opportunities. Today's market encompasses publicly traded exchanges, self-custody wallets, institutional infrastructure providers, and fintech applications integrating cryptocurrency trading and staking functions. This diversification reflects the increasing maturity of the cryptocurrency industry, whose development is no longer dominated by speculative trading but is centered on genuine business models and long-term strategic visions.

Importantly, listing also brings higher accountability. Listed companies must meet higher standards of financial reporting, compliance, and governance, which in turn makes them more attractive to institutional capital. Going public enables these companies to raise funds and scale responsibly under the supervision of regulators and public shareholders. In short, the entry of cryptocurrency enterprises into the public stock market marks a critical step in establishing institutional credibility, market discipline, and achieving sustainable growth.