Company Profile · Crypto · San Francisco
CoinList.
The primary market for crypto - early, vetted access to new token networks before they hit an exchange.
The primary market for crypto - early, vetted access to new token networks before they hit an exchange.
CoinList runs the opening act of a crypto network's public life. Before a token trades on Binance or Coinbase, it often has to reach its first investors somewhere - and for hundreds of projects, that somewhere has been CoinList.
Founded in San Francisco in 2017 as a spin-off from AngelList, the company built a token-sale platform designed around a single, unglamorous idea: that fundraising in crypto could be done in a compliant, repeatable way. It debuted with the Filecoin SAFT sale, a legally structured token distribution that became a de facto U.S. standard other projects copied.
The product line has widened since - private deal access, a mobile app, a culture-focused joint venture - but the center of gravity is unchanged. CoinList connects vetted projects with verified investors and handles the compliance plumbing in between.
CoinList is a two-sided platform. On one side are blockchain projects and protocols that need to raise capital and get tokens into the right hands - names like Filecoin, Solana, Near, Algorand, Flow and Ondo. On the other are investors, both retail and accredited, who want early access to those networks.
In 2024, investors from 170 countries took part in sales; in 2025, more than 70,000 investors across 110 countries did.
The 2017 ICO boom was a gold rush without rules - fraud, unclear securities law, and no reliable way for a serious project to raise money without legal risk. CoinList's answer was to make the compliance itself the product.
Legal token-distribution infrastructure, investor screening, and access to a global base of vetted buyers - without building it all in-house.
A curated shortlist of new networks to buy into before exchange listing, with eligibility handled up front. In 2025, 86% of sales were oversubscribed.
The flagship: curated primary sales giving early access to new networks before they list on exchanges, with KYC/AML built in.
KYC/AML, accredited-investor verification and legally structured distribution - pioneered with the Filecoin SAFT.
A private portal opening curated deals to accredited investors - from pre-seed and pre-TGE to pre-IPO.
iOS/Android trading and sale participation, launched with zero-fee trading through July 31, 2025.
A joint venture with Animoca Brands for culture and entertainment token sales; hosted MOCA and 0G.
Built with Privy as CoinList moves onchain, delivering tokens into wallets users control themselves.
CoinList operates a primary market for digital assets. It earns fees from projects that run token sales on the platform and from trading and transaction activity. Its work is curation and compliance: vet the project, verify the investor, distribute the token.
In 2025 the company began moving to a non-custodial, onchain model - a deliberate choice to hold less. Rather than custody customer crypto, it focuses on access and delivers tokens directly to user-controlled wallets, with wallet infrastructure from Privy.
CoinList sits at the front of the crypto capital stack - a launchpad competing with the likes of Binance Launchpad, Legion, Echo, Republic and DAO Maker, but distinguished by its compliance heritage and roster of blue-chip launches.
Bars scaled to round size. Total raised: ~$119M across three rounds.
Early backers included Polychain Capital, Digital Currency Group and FBG Capital. A 2019 round drew in Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey alongside Collaborative Fund.
The 2021 round - led by Accomplice VC and Agman Partners - was its largest at $100M, valuing CoinList at $1.5 billion at the height of the bull market.
Founded in San Francisco to bring compliance to the ICO boom, debuting with the Filecoin SAFT sale.
Raised early capital led by Polychain Capital as SEC scrutiny of token sales intensified.
Polychain and Collaborative Fund led a round that included Twitter's co-founder.
CoinList auctioned 8M SOL - an early-access sale that became crypto folklore.
Its largest raise, led by Accomplice VC and Agman Partners, funded rapid scaling.
CoinList Markets settled for ~$1.2M over sanctions-compliance lapses tied to Crimea-based users.
Investors from 170 countries participated; 13 of 14 sales were oversubscribed.
Launched a mobile app, CoinList Alpha and MocaList, and announced a full non-custodial, onchain transition.
CoinList was built by a team out of the AngelList and Protocol Labs orbit, combining Silicon Valley venture experience with crypto expertise. Co-founders include Kendrick Nguyen, Andy Bromberg, Graham Jenkin, Brian Tubergen, Joshua Slayton and Paul Menchov.
The company is compliance-forward and remote-friendly, employing roughly 74 people, and has seen leadership change hands as the business matured through crypto's cycles.
A compliance-forward, remote-friendly team that treats regulatory rigor as a feature, not a chore - a stance that has kept it standing through market winters, a leadership change and a sanctions settlement.
CoinList is a crypto platform that gives investors early access to new token sales and blockchain networks, with built-in KYC/AML and eligibility compliance. It was founded in 2017 as a spin-off from AngelList.
CoinList has run primary sales for blue-chip networks including Filecoin, Solana, Near, Algorand, Flow and Ondo, among many others.
It was founded by a team including Kendrick Nguyen, Andy Bromberg, Graham Jenkin, Brian Tubergen, Joshua Slayton and Paul Menchov. It has raised about $119M and was valued at $1.5B in 2021.
As of its 2025 transition, CoinList is moving to a fully non-custodial, onchain model - it delivers tokens directly into wallets users control rather than holding crypto for them.
Both blockchain projects raising funds and individual investors seeking early access. Some products, such as CoinList Alpha and US token sales, are limited to accredited investors, and eligibility varies by jurisdiction.
Sources: CoinList blog year-in-review reports, IQ.wiki, Crunchbase, PitchBook, The Block, Crowdfund Insider, U.S. Treasury OFAC. Figures approximate where noted.