Another super IPO! The "Third Pole" exchange MIAX makes a significant debut on the New York Stock Exchange with a market value expected to reach $1.8 billion

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Miami International Holdings Inc. (MIAX), a securities and derivatives exchange operator headquartered in the United States, raised approximately $345 million in its initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S. stock market, pricing its stock issuance above the marketing range.

According to a statement, the U.S. exchange operator known as "MIAX" in the global financial market sold 15 million shares to the market at a price of $23 per share on Wednesday local time, compared to the company's previously expected marketing price of $19 to $21 per share.

Based on the current IPO price and the number of shares outstanding listed in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), MIAX's initial market capitalization upon its official debut on the U.S. stock market on August 14 is expected to reach approximately $1.8 billion, making it another super IPO following AI cloud computing leader CoreWeave and the "first stock of stablecoins" Circle. Considering employee stock options, warrants, and some restricted stock units, the company's fully diluted valuation is approximately $2.5 billion.

MIAX is relatively unknown outside the derivatives trading field; the exchange operator is a large trading operation group spanning stocks, futures, and options, operating nine larger exchanges. MIAX was co-founded by Thomas Gallagher in 2007, who currently serves as chairman and CEO.

Since 2013, MIAX has been operating an equity ownership program, under which exchange members can obtain equity in MIAX through an initial cash payment or by prepaying exchange fees and reaching specific trading volume thresholds.

As an options exchange operator, MIAX's competitors include Cboe Global Markets Inc., Intercontinental Exchange Inc., and Nasdaq Inc. There are a total of 18 large options exchanges in the United States, with MIAX operating four of them.

According to its IPO documents, MIAX expects to launch futures and options trading for the so-called "Bloomberg 500 Index" by the end of 2025 or early 2026, with more index options planned for release later in 2026. Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, provides index products for various global assets through Bloomberg Index Services Ltd.

It is reported that MIAX's largest investors include affiliates of Wolverine Holdings (holding 5.9% before the offering) and Wall Street financial giant Susquehanna International Group (holding 5.1%) According to the document, this exchange operator headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, achieved a net profit of approximately $2.1 million and revenue of $654.9 million for the six months ending June 30, while the net profit for the same period last year reached $102.3 million, with revenue of about $539.5 million.

The IPO stock issuance for this exchange is led by three major investment giants on Wall Street—JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Piper Sandler. The company plans to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange on August 14, with the stock trading code tentatively set as "MIAX."

What is Miami International Holdings?

Outside of the "NYSE/NASDAQ," MIAX (Miami International Holdings) provides a third-party, technology-driven trading infrastructure and rule options for the U.S. market through a multi-site system of options + stocks + futures, enhancing the competitive landscape for price discovery and liquidity supply.

MIAX operates four U.S. options exchanges (MIAX Options, Pearl, Emerald, Sapphire), one U.S. stock exchange (MIAX Pearl Equities), and one futures and clearing institution (which was acquired from MGEX and renamed MIAX Futures), forming a third-party platform cluster that competes alongside Cboe, Nasdaq, and ICE. MIAX focuses on multi-market trading infrastructure and matching, providing ultra-low latency matching, risk control, and clearing access for U.S. stock options, cash stocks, and futures; different exchanges adopt differentiated fees, market trading varieties, and differentiated trading systems to meet the needs of various participants (market makers, institutional brokers, etc.). For example, MIAX Futures Onyx is set to launch in June 2025, facilitating the migration and listing of varieties such as "Minneapolis Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW)," advancing MIAX's layout in U.S. agricultural and financial futures.

By acquiring and integrating MGEX, MIAX established a CFTC-registered futures exchange and clearinghouse platform (later renamed MIAX Futures) and promoted its own technology stack (Onyx platform) and new product categories, strengthening multi-platform competition in the U.S. derivatives market.

In terms of market ecology and industry position, MIAX, as an operator of U.S. securities exchanges and futures exchanges/clearinghouses, competes directly with leading institutions such as Cboe, Nasdaq, and ICE in the options and other derivatives markets (one of the 18 major exchanges in the U.S.), stock secondary market trading, and futures, providing additional liquidity and access paths for Wall Street super banks, market makers, and quantitative trading institutions. Its recent IPO also confirms the positioning of this exchange operator as a group with a multi-asset approach. Additionally, MIAX connects to overseas capital markets through the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) and the International Securities Exchange (TISE) MIAX can be regarded as the "third pole" exchange operator in the U.S. capital market—besides the Nasdaq and NYSE systems, MIAX provides independent matching and market rules in the three major sectors of options, stocks, and futures, enhancing the competitiveness of market structure, product diversity, and technological supply