Cryptocurrency Exchange Bullish Files for $629M IPO Amid Crypto Market Recovery

Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange backed by Peter Thiel, has officially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), aiming to raise up to $629 million by offering 20.3 million ordinary shares at a price range of $28 to $31 per share. The filing, submitted as an F-1 registration, would value the firm between $3.8 billion and $4.2 billion post-offering based on the number of shares expected to be outstanding. This marks the second time the company is attempting an IPO after its initial plans to go public via a SPAC merger in 2021 collapsed due to market conditions in 2022 [1].

The CEO of Bullish, Tom Farley, stated in a letter included with the filing that the company believes the digital assets industry is entering a new phase of growth and that transparency and compliance are core to Bullish’s operations. Farley added that going public would provide key benefits, including enhanced credibility with partners and regulators, improved access to capital, and a stronger equity currency for strategic acquisitions [1].

The timing of the IPO aligns with a broader regulatory easing and positive sentiment in the crypto market, which Farley attributes to the new administration under President Donald Trump. He emphasized that Bullish is uniquely positioned to benefit from the growing institutional adoption of digital assets and has built a compliant, institutional-focused market infrastructure model that has already proven effective in traditional markets [1].

Bullish, which also owns the crypto media publication CoinDesk, plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to enhance its information services, expand geographically, and broaden its product offerings, with a particular focus on options trading. The company has already seen significant growth in trading volumes, reporting a more than doubling of total 2023 trading volumes in the previous year and an increase of 78% in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024 [1].

The IPO is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "BLSH." It follows the successful IPOs of other crypto firms like Circle and eToro earlier in the year. Additional major crypto exchanges, including OKX, Kraken, and Gemini, have also indicated their intention to pursue public listings [1].

According to the filing, Bullish forecasts a nearly $225 million increase in net income for the three months ending June 30, 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. This projected increase is primarily attributed to favorable changes in the fair value of digital assets rather than operating income [1].

Source: [1] title: Cryptocurrency Exchange Bullish to Raise Up to $629M in IPO (url: https://decrypt.co/333415/cryptocurrency-exchange-bullish-raise-629m-public-offering)