Ionic Digital Shares Surge 26% in Nasdaq Debut After Direct Listing

Ionic Digital shares climbed about 26% from their opening price in their Nasdaq debut Tuesday after the Celsius-linked Bitcoin miner and AI infrastructure company completed its direct listing. The shares opened at $50 and closed at $62.90, giving Ionic a market capitalization of about $2.8 billion based on approximately 44.9 million shares outstanding, according to its registration statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Ionic was formed in 2024 to acquire Celsius Mining’s assets through the bankrupt crypto lender’s restructuring and has since expanded into AI and high-performance computing infrastructure. IPO research firm Renaissance Capital said Ionic’s $2.4 billion implied market value at Nasdaq’s $53 reference price made it the largest US direct listing since 2021. The stock pared some of its gains after the closing bell, falling 6.5% to $58.80 in after-hours trading, according to Yahoo Finance.