The first IPO after the enactment of Trump's stablecoin bill
As the capital frenzy sparked by the listing of stablecoin giant Circle gradually calms down, the cryptocurrency industry welcomes another heavyweight IPO: Bullish, which owns a cryptocurrency exchange and top media, has submitted registration documents to the U.S. SEC to apply for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first cryptocurrency company to seek public listing after Trump officially signed the stablecoin bill.
According to the prospectus, this IPO is led by JPMorgan, Jefferies Financial Group, and Citigroup as underwriters, and the company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol 'BLSH'. It is noteworthy that the company had previously announced plans to go public via a SPAC in 2021, but that plan was subsequently shelved.
Bullish was founded in 2021 and incubated by blockchain company Block.one and Silicon Valley star investor Peter Thiel, among others. Peter Thiel also participated in strategic investments through Founders Fund and Thiel Capital, with other investors including Alan Howard and Nomura Securities.
Bullish CEO Tom Farley stated in a letter to investors that the reason the company is seeking an IPO is that it believes the digital asset industry is entering the next phase of growth. He emphasized that transparency and compliance are hallmarks of the company's operations, and these values align closely with public capital markets.
According to the prospectus, Bullish's business is mainly divided into two parts: the cryptocurrency exchange Bullish and the data and media business Coindesk acquired in 2023. Additionally, the company holds over 24,000 bitcoins, which would rank among the top five publicly traded companies in terms of bitcoin holdings after going public.
As of the end of the first quarter of this year, the total trading volume of Bullish exchange since its inception has exceeded $12.5 trillion. In 2024, the global spot trading volumes for bitcoin (BTC/USDx) and Ethereum (ETH/USDx) on the exchange are approximately $284.8 billion and $144.5 billion, respectively.
In the first quarter of this year, Bullish's average daily trading volume exceeded $2.5 billion, ranking among the top five in spot trading volume for bitcoin and Ethereum.
Coindesk is also a well-known trading data, index, event provider, and top media in the cryptocurrency space. 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. Additionally, the company's media website attracted a total of 55 million unique visitors in 2024.
According to the IPO application documents, the digital asset exchange Bullish holds 24,000 BTC, with a net profit of $80 million in 2024, but a net loss of $349 million in the first quarter of 2025, although the adjusted EBITDA remains at a positive $13 million, and the adjusted net profit is only $2 million.
Last Friday, Trump passed and signed the (Genius Act) aimed at regulating stablecoins, which aims to create a more favorable environment for cryptocurrency companies to go public.
CEO Farley expressed confidence in the future of the industry, but Bullish's financial performance poses the most direct challenge. As of March 31, 2025, the company's total current assets reached $1.962 billion, with only $28 million in cash, while digital assets dominate significantly.
According to its prospectus, the company's holdings of over 24,000 bitcoins are distributed for different uses: 20,960 as intangible assets, inventory, and financial assets, 2,600 for lending and other receivables, and 780 held through bitcoin funds and ETPs.
Among the cryptocurrency companies seeking IPOs this year, the most notable is the stablecoin issuer Circle. Since starting trading on June 5, the company's stock price has risen from $31 to a high of $298, soaring over 860% in the first month after the IPO. 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 significantly factored in the rapid development of stablecoins.
As a beneficiary of this round of global cryptocurrency legislation, Bullish is also rapidly advancing license applications in various regulatory regions. In January of this year, the company obtained a cryptocurrency asset trading and custody license issued by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, enabling it to provide services in the European Economic Area.
Subsequently, in February of this year, the financial regulatory authority in Hong Kong issued a Virtual Asset Trading Platform Operator (VATP) license to Bullish. The company stated it will continue to focus on institutional business, such as those that have received 'No. 1 license' upgrades from Hong Kong securities firms.
