Mike Novogratz describes 'unfair, infuriating' path to Galaxy Digital's Nasdaq listing

Michael Novogratz, founder and chief executive officer of Galaxy Digital LP, left, during an interview on an episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein in New York, US, on Wednesday, July 26, 2023.Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesTORONTO — Mike Novogratz said he spent nearly four years and more than $25 million trying to take crypto firm Galaxy Digital public in the United States. "It felt un-American, unfair, infuriating," Novogratz said. Novogratz told CNBC that a process that should take 45 to 90 days stretched out to 1,320 days. He said it took nine rounds of comments with the Securities and Exchange Commission."One of the things that people didn't understand about the crypto tax is that you needed to be very well capitalized — and a pretty big, strong company — just to stay in the game," he said.The billionaire crypto mogul will finally ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq Friday under the ticker GLXY with his company trading on U.S. public markets for the first time in a direct listing.Novogratz said Galaxy's auditing costs were significantly higher than those of firms like Jefferies — a consequence of the regulatory scrutiny that comes with being a crypto company. He said he expects those fees to drop by as much as 40% now that Galaxy is listed on the Nasdaq.Yet instead of breaking Galaxy, the ordeal seemed to harden it. "Scarcity makes you tougher," Novogratz said. "We funded our company mostly through investment gains and trading.""We weren't the only company that suffered," Novogratz said, pointing to eToro, the Israeli trading platform, that went public on Nasdaq this week. Its listing was one of the first major fintech IPOs since 2021, signaling that investor appetite for crypto-adjacent firms is returning after years of regulatory caution and market volatility.Until now, Galaxy Digital's home on the public markets has been on the Toronto Stock Exchange, where the New York-based company went public in 2020, because U.S. regulators were too wary of crypto. The TSX has become a testing ground for digital asset firms that couldn't gain traction in American markets, even as U.S. investors and capital loomed just across the border.But for Novogratz, whose ambitions were always bigger, the U.S. was the stage that mattered. "Our visibility, volume, and notoriety in the Canadian market versus the U.S. is one to 30 — the U.S. market is 30 times deeper," he said. "If we had been in the U.S. markets those four years, we'd be a different company."The former hedge fund manager turned crypto entrepreneur has built a reputation for direct and candid conversations. In Washington, he witnessed first-hand how crypto evolved from a fringe curiosity to a central issue in American politics."I was at the vice president's inaugural ball as a representative Democrat," Novogratz said. In a room of roughly 300 attendees, he said he counted around 20 crypto CEOs — a striking show of the industry's growing influence in Washington."I mean, it was shocking — the crypto representation down in D.C. over the inauguration — and Democrats noticed that. So I think, in earnest, there's a core group of Democrats, and a big one, probably the majority of Democrats, that just want to pass crypto legislation that's good for America, and move on, and, quite frankly, get crypto off the map as an electoral issue," he said.The turning point came with the election of President Donald Trump, a political shift that Novogratz saw unfolding in real-time."The flip got switched… the old regime knew the new regime was coming, and so they started to be much more supportive," he said. Conversations that had once been closed suddenly opened.Novogratz met incoming SEC Chair Paul Atkins around the time of the inauguration. Atkins wasn't yet in the role, but his stance was clear — he prioritized fair disclosure and leaned pro-business, pro-risk. Their conversation was high-level, focused on the regulator's approach, but it left Novogratz with a sense of optimism."Ringing the bell is kind of the starting line, not the finish line," said Novogratz.WATCH: Eric Trump on taking American Bitcoin public and the family's growing crypto empire