Sept 9 (Reuters) - Winklevoss twins-backed Gemini raised the proposed price range for its U.S. initial public offering on Tuesday and is now targeting a valuation of up to $3.08 billion in its listing, reflecting investor interest in crypto ventures.

The cryptocurrency exchange aims to raise $433.3 million by selling 16.67 million shares priced between $24 and $26 each. This compares with its prior proposed range of $17 to $19 per share.

The company has already lined up Nasdaq to buy $50 million in shares in a private placement at the time of its IPO, Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

U.S. IPOs have resumed a long-awaited recovery as Fall kicks off, with jubilant equity markets and potentially lower interest rates helping cloud the residual tariffs uncertainty and sticky inflation.

"Lower rates reduce funding costs and support equity valuations, which is positive for the IPO sentiment," said Kat Liu, vice president at IPO research firm IPOX.

Crypto firms have stood out among new issuers as regulatory tailwinds, higher ETF flows and institutional adoption help bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets.

Blockchain lender Figure Technologies also lifted its IPO price range, along with increasing the offering size, earlier on Tuesday, confirming a Reuters report.

Gemini, which is expected to price its IPO on Thursday, will become the third publicly traded crypto exchange after Coinbase COIN.O — the first crypto exchange to join the S&P 500 — and Bullish BLSH.O, whose shares more than doubled in its NYSE debut last month.

The company was founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who gained fame after settling a 2008 legal dispute with Meta's META.O Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Gemini expects to list on the Nasdaq under the "GEMI" ticker symbol. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are the lead bookrunners on the deal.