It's fair to say that investor demand for long-awaited IPOs is back. Online banking company Chime (NASDAQ: CHYM) finally went public after years of stagnation in the fintech IPO pipeline, and to call it a successful public debut would be a bit of an understatement.

Chime, a digital bank popular with younger customers, is the latest tech firm to go public. The stock will begin trading Thursday under the ticker symbol CHYM.

Still, the Chime IPO is being celebrated as a win for the company—and more importantly, as a clear signal that the public equities market has cracked open for new issues, especi