Shares in Novogratz's Crypto Bank Galaxy Digital Plunge 20% in Toronto Exchange Debut

Shares in Mike Novogratz's crypto-focused merchant bank plunged 20 percent during their trading debut on a major Canadian stock exchange Wednesday, August 1, CNBC reported.

After opening at $2.75 Canadian dollars apiece for their first ever listing on Toronto's TSX Venture Exchange, shares in Galaxy Digital LP fell 20 percent in the first half hour of trading.

Shares were down further to $1.98 CAD as of 1:48 p.m. ET August 1, according to CNBC. Galaxy Digital LP is trading as 'Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd' under the stock exchange's GLXY ticker, slightly renamed after its founder, former Goldman Sachs partner and crypto bull Mike Novogratz, opted to secure the listing via a so-called "Reverse takeover" route.

Lacking the two years' of audited financials required for a U.S. initial public offering, Novogratz instead acquired a Canadian crypto start-up Coin Capital, which he then merged with an already TSX-listed Canadian shell company Bradmer Pharmaceuticals, CNBC reports.

TSX is the largest stock exchange in Canada and the third largest in North America by capitalization, following the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

As Cointelegraph has previously reported, Galaxy initially sold shares at $5 CAD each in a private placement this January, weeks after Bitcoin had peaked to industry record highs around $20,000 in December 2017.

Before approving the listing, Canadian regulators subjected the firm to close scrutiny and pushed back its trading debut from April to August, during which a protracted downtrend in the crypto markets saw Bitcoin dip yet further to below $6,000.

In late June, Galaxy Digital released its first quarterly report for 2018, posting $134 million in losses with $85.5 million as an unrealized loss on digital assets.