AI and Crypto Companies Dominated IPO Winners in 2025

The IPO market rebounded modestly in 2025, led by top performers CoreWeave and Circle, after long drought.

The drought in initial public offerings ended this year, led by big winners in AI and crypto, but gains were rare for companies outside those industries. Bankers expect those trends to hold in 2026.

Booms in AI and crypto delivered two of the biggest winners of the year: data center developer CoreWeave and stablecoin issuer Circle. The losers among big tech IPOs were consumer-facing companies such as fintech Chime, ticket reseller StubHub and traditional software makers like travel company Navan. The average return from the 10 biggest listings was nearly 44%.