Ionic Digital has filed for a direct listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker IOND, giving existing shareholders a potential public trading venue.
summary
- Ionic Digital’s direct listing gives former Celsius creditors a potential public market for bankruptcy shares.
- The company is shifting from Bitcoin mining to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure leasing.
- Ionic’s Texas lease with Nscale could generate nearly $2 billion in contracted revenue over time.
Registered shareholders may sell shares after the registration statement becomes effective, and IONIC will not receive proceeds from those sales, the company said.
Reuters I mentioned Registered shareholders plan to sell up to 10.8 million shares through the listing. The company was formed in January 2024 to acquire the assets of Celsius Mining Company after Celsius received approval from the US Bankruptcy Court for its restructuring.
Celsius creditors receive potential liquidity
The listing is important for former Celsius creditors because they acquired Ionic shares under the bankruptcy plan. Ionic issued about 37 million Class A shares to Celsius’ creditors, making them shareholders in the new company.
Celsius started Distribution of more than $3 billion in cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies and other assets to creditors in 2024. This plan also established Ionic Digital as a creditor-owned bitcoin mining company, with Hut 8 initially set to manage mining operations.
like I mentioned By crypto.news, Celsius later initiated a third payment round worth $220.6 million in August 2025. This report stated that the total recovery of creditors reached 64.9%, while some creditors could also obtain equity rights in Ionic Digital.
The AI lease changes the revenue mix
Ionic no longer presents itself as just a Bitcoin mining company. It’s a second Deposit The company says it has shifted part of its infrastructure toward high-performance computing and AI data center use, led by its property in Ward County, Texas.
The Ward County site has an installed capacity of 234 MW and is now supporting the AI plan. Ionic said it decommissioned its mining assets in Ward County in December 2025 and is converting the property to Nscale use during the lease term.
Ionic entered into the Nscale agreement in October 2025. The company said the lease covers 126 months and is expected to provide approximately $1.95 billion in contracted revenue, with the potential to add an additional 89 megawatts if approvals and capacity arrive.
This shift is already evident in its calculations. Ionic reported digital infrastructure rental revenue of $44 million for the first quarter of 2026, while cryptocurrency mining revenue fell 82% to $7.4 million from $41.1 million a year earlier.
The financing supports infrastructure construction
ionic complete Private placement of US$400 million prior to filing for direct listing. The company said the deal entails a pre-stock valuation of $2 billion, and that the proceeds will support the company’s general purposes, including digital infrastructure development.
“This financing strengthens Ionic Digital’s capital base and supports the continued development of our digital infrastructure platform,” said Andy Stewart, CEO of Ionic Digital.
Attestor, Oaktree Capital Management, Sachem Head Capital Management, Citadel and Weiss Asset Management participated in the financing round, the company said.
A direct listing will not raise new funds for Ionic, unlike an IPO. It essentially creates a market for existing shares, including holdings associated with the Celsius redemption process.
Ionic’s filing warns that a direct listing could lead to price volatility because no underwriter sets the offering price. The company also said the trading may face selling pressure because many shareholders did not have a public way to sell their shares before.
The filing places Ionic within a broader shift in the mining sector towards artificial intelligence and demand for data centres. For Celsius’ creditors, the key test is whether IOND trading creates useful liquidity after years of bankruptcy recovery work.
