Dubbed by the ASX as one of the most-important' listings in history for the local market, US payments giant Block (ASX: SQ2) will complete a dual-listing later this week on Thursday.The Jack Dorsey-led business, formerly known as Square, is viewed by the market operator as a sign of potential pulling power for the Australian share market to attract other high-profile tech stories in the future. Following its acquisition of buy-now pay-later juggernaut Afterpay (ASX: APT), which will be wrapped up in the parent company as part of Block listing, an estimated 20% of the company total market cap will be represented through the ASX.

Block is striving to become a diversified financial payments business. It will be the ASX first major cryptocurrency stock, with the company having generated nearly US$2 billion in revenue from bitcoin trading in its most-recent quarter. Apart from owning approximately 8,000 Bitcoin, and making progress on developing a Bitcoin wallet, it is building a system for bitcoin miners and will begin mining the digital currency as well.

Elsewhere, Beforepay (ASX: B4P) is a hybrid payday-BNPL stock looking to make an impression on ASX investors, however, it comes to market at a time when the broader payments segment has been out of favour. With the likes of Afterpay, Zip (ASX: Z1P), EML Payments (ASX: EML) and many other related stocks significantly off their yearly highs, management will be hoping Beforepay unique model sets it apart from its peers. 

The company allows customers to effectively receive an advance on a portion of their salary as a loan to improve their cash flow, while charging a transaction fee of 5% to do so. It has raised $35 million at $3.41 per share to fast-track its growth, having accumulated over 125,000 customers by late last year. Former Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer is Chair for the business, which posted a net loss of nearly $20 million in FY21 from revenue of $4.5 million.

Battery metals IPOs ChemX Materials (ASX: CMX) and NiCo Resources (ASX: NC1) are locked in for debuts on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, a week after they were expected to list before delays surfaced. However, they'll be joined by a number of other commodity floats, with gold and copper explorers being one of the resonating themes thanks to the likes of Vertex Minerals (ASX: VTX), Virdis Mining and Minerals (ASX: VNM), Felix Gold (ASX: FXG) and more.In the US, fully-integrated bitcoin miner Rhodium Enterprises (NASDAQ: RHDM) takes centre stage after raising US$100 million. Based in Texas, the company was set up to acquire and operate infrastructure assets for Bitcoin mining operations. At this time, Rhodium, valued at up to US$1.7 billion, oversees a facility with 125 MW of power capacity and 2.7 exahashes of mining capacity.

Upcoming IPOs

ASX Market:

1. Beforepay (B4P)

   • Focus: BNPL offering access to a portion of upcoming pay

   • IPO Size: $35 million

   • Expected Debut: January 17

2. Vertex Minerals (VTX)

   • Focus: Gold explorer

   • IPO Size: $5.5 million

   • Expected Debut: January 17

3. ChemX Materials (CMX)

   • Focus: Advanced materials tech firm focused on HPA production

   • IPO Size: $8 million

   • Expected Debut: January 18

4. NiCo Resources (NC1)

   • Focus: Nickel-cobalt explorer

   • IPO Size: $12 million

   • Expected Debut: January 19

5. Virdis Mining and Minerals (VNM)

   • Focus: Gold, nickel, copper, PGE, and rare earths explorer

   • IPO Size: $5.5 million

   • Expected Debut: January 19

6. Block (SQ2)

   • Focus: Global fintech and payments firm, owns Afterpay

   • Expected Debut: January 20

7. Felix Gold (FXG)

   • Focus: Gold explorer

   • IPO Size: $10 million

   • Expected Debut: January 20

8. Killi Resources (KLI)

   • Focus: Gold and copper explorer

   • IPO Size: $6 million

   • Expected Debut: January 20

9. Belararox (BRX)

   • Focus: Zinc, copper, gold, silver, lead, and nickel explorer

   • IPO Size: $6 million

   • Expected Debut: January 21

10. Orexplore Tech (OXT)

    • Focus: Mining technology provider, including drill core scans

    • IPO Size: $2.5 million

    • Expected Debut: January 21

11. WA1 Resources (WA1)

    • Focus: Gold and copper explorer

    • IPO Size: $6 million

    • Expected Debut: January 21

12. Far East Gold (FEG)

    • Focus: Copper and gold explorer in Indonesia & Australia

    • IPO Size: $12 million

    • Expected Debut: To be announced (TBA)

US Market:

13. Yoshitsu (TKLF)

    • Focus: Japanese beauty and health products retailer, wholesaler

    • IPO Size: $24 million

    • Expected Debut: January 18

14. Verdant Earth Tech (VDNT)

    • Focus: Australian renewable fuel repurposer for power plants

    • IPO Size: $50 million

    • Expected Debut: January 18

15. Rhodium Enterprises (RHDM)

    • Focus: Fully-integrated bitcoin miner

    • IPO Size: $100 million

    • Expected Debut: January 20

16. Four Springs Capital Trust (FSPR)

    • Focus: Real estate trust with exposure across 32 US states

    • IPO Size: $252 million

    • Expected Debut: January 20

17. Samsara Vision (SMSA)

    • Focus: Medical-implant maker for retinal diseases

    • IPO Size: $25 million

    • Expected Debut: January 21

18. Modular Medical (MODD)

    • Focus: Wearable insulin pump developer

    • IPO Size: $30 million

    • Expected Debut: To be announced (TBC)

*All dates are subject to change and should be treated as an indicative guide only