U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Bullish (NYSE: BLSH) has once again ignited market discussions, as the $1.15 billion raised through its initial public offering (IPO) was entirely settled in stablecoins, marking the first instance in U.S. IPO history and adding a new chapter to the deep integration of traditional financial markets and cryptocurrencies.
According to the official announcement, the settlement process was handled by investment bank Jefferies, acting as the pricing and delivery agent, responsible for coordinating the minting, exchange, and delivery of stablecoins; and the vast majority of stablecoins were specifically minted for Bullish on the Solana public blockchain.
In this transaction, Bullish received stablecoins pegged to the dollar and euro, primarily including USDC and EURC from Circle.
Bullish CFO David Bonanno stated: "We believe that stablecoins are one of the most disruptive and widely adopted applications in the digital asset space. Internally, we have long relied on stablecoins to enable fast and secure cross-border fund transfers, especially on the Solana network."
Last week, this exchange, backed by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel, completed a public offering of 30 million shares at $37 per share, raising a total of $1.1 billion, and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. BLSH's stock price soared over 150% on its first day of trading, showing that investor enthusiasm for cryptocurrency-listed companies remains strong.
It is reported that major exchanges, including Gemini and Kraken, as well as wallet and custody provider Bitgo, are all considering the feasibility of going public. The outside world believes that the U.S. regulatory attitude has turned friendly since the return of the Trump administration, driving a wave of cryptocurrency listings.
Interestingly, Bullish chose to entrust the stablecoins used for IPO settlement to its competitor Coinbase for custody.
This IPO not only utilized Circle's USDC and EURC but also included Paxos' USDG, PayPal's PYUSD, Ripple's RLUSD, Agora's AUSD, and the World Liberty Financial stablecoin USD1, associated with the Trump camp.
Bullish CFO Bonanno emphasized: "Our collaboration with these stablecoin issuers, from settlement to listing on the Bullish exchange, perfectly reflects how the infrastructure and liquidity we have built become the engine driving their business development."
"First IPO in the U.S.! Bullish raises $1.15 billion 'entirely settled in stablecoins'" This article was first published in (Blockcast).
