Just as the capital frenzy triggered by the listing of stablecoin giant Circle gradually calms down, the cryptocurrency industry welcomes another heavyweight IPO: Bullish, which owns a cryptocurrency exchange and leading media, submitted registration documents to the U.S. SEC, applying for listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
As background, Bullish was established in 2021, incubated by blockchain company Block.one and Silicon Valley star investor Peter Thiel and others. Peter Thiel also participated in strategic investments through Founders Fund and Thiel Capital, with other investors including Alan Howard, Nomura Securities, and others.
By the way, just two months after its establishment, Bullish attempted to go public in the U.S. stock market through a 'reverse merger', but this coincided with rising suspicions of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike and continuous turmoil in the cryptocurrency sector, ultimately resulting in abandonment of the plan.
After years of operation, Bullish's business landscape has more narratives worth noting.
According to the prospectus, Bullish's business is mainly divided into two parts: the cryptocurrency exchange Bullish, and the data and media business Coindesk, which was acquired in 2023. Additionally, the company holds over 24,000 bitcoins, which would rank among the top five publicly listed companies in terms of bitcoin holdings after going public.
The prospectus reveals that as of the end of the first quarter of this year, the total trading volume of Bullish exchange since its establishment exceeded $12.5 trillion. In 2024, the global spot trading volume of bitcoin (BTC/USDx) and ethereum (ETH/USDx) on the exchange is approximately $284.8 billion and $144.5 billion, respectively.
Furthermore, in the first quarter of 2025, Bullish's average daily trading volume exceeded $2.5 billion, ranking among the top five in bitcoin and ethereum spot trading volumes. The company lists Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken as its main competitors.
Meanwhile, Coindesk is also a well-known provider of trading data, indices, events, and leading media in the cryptocurrency sector. As of the end of the first quarter of this year, the company’s real-time professional data and research served a total of 171,000 users worldwide. At the same time, the company's media website attracted a total of 55 million unique visitors in 2024.
Financial data shows that Bullish's digital asset sales in the first quarter of this year amounted to $80.2 billion, comparable to the same period last year, but with a net loss of $348 million compared to a net profit of $104 million in the same period last year.
However, the performance difference mainly lies in the digital assets held by the company, which recorded an impairment of $246 million in the first quarter of this year. As bitcoin prices rise, asset appreciation will positively contribute to future financial reports.
Bullish's submission of the IPO application at this moment also seems to have the intention of listing amid the U.S. cryptocurrency legislative heat.
In comparison, Circle submitted its S-1 form on April 1 this year, but its listing was stalled in the U.S. Senate's approval of the stablecoin bill. Since trading began on June 5, the company's stock price rose from the issuance price of $31 to a peak of $298. The latest closing price is $223, corresponding to a market value of $49.8 billion. Considering that the current issuance of USDC is only $64.7 billion, this wave of speculation has already significantly accounted for the rapid growth of stablecoins.
For Bullish, the potential 'windfall' moment will be when the U.S. Congress reviews the cryptocurrency regulatory framework bill. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives has already voted to pass the (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) (CLARITY Act), but reportedly the U.S. Senate is considering introducing another version of the cryptocurrency regulatory framework itself. Therefore, various parties currently expect that the sprint voting node for this bill may be in September.
As a beneficiary of this round of global cryptocurrency legislation, Bullish is also rapidly promoting license applications in various regulatory regions. In January of this year, the company obtained a cryptocurrency trading and custody license issued by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany, allowing it to provide services in the European Economic Area.
Since then, in February of this year, the financial regulatory authority in the Hong Kong region issued a virtual asset trading platform operator (VATP) license to Bullish. The company stated that it will continue to focus on institutional business, such as acquiring a large number of Hong Kong brokers that received the upgraded 'No. 1 license'.
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