Just as the capital frenzy triggered by the listing of stablecoin giant Circle gradually calms down, the cryptocurrency industry welcomes another major IPO: Bullish, which owns a cryptocurrency exchange and leading media, has submitted registration documents to the U.S. SEC, applying for listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
As background, Bullish was founded in 2021, 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 Allen Howard and Nomura Securities.
It is worth mentioning that just two months after its establishment, Bullish attempted to go public through a backdoor listing on the U.S. stock market, but had to abandon the plan due to rising suspicions over Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and continuous crises in the cryptocurrency sector.
After years of operation, Bullish's business landscape has more narratives worth paying attention to.
According to the prospectus, Bullish's business is primarily divided into two major 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 will rank it among the top five publicly listed companies in terms of bitcoin holdings after going public.
The prospectus disclosed that as of the end of the first quarter of this year, the total trading volume of Bullish exchange since its inception has exceeded $1.25 trillion. In 2024, the global spot trading volume for bitcoin (BTC/USDx) and ethereum (ETH/USDx) on the exchange is approximately $284.8 billion and $144.5 billion, respectively.
Moreover, in the first quarter of 2025, Bullish's average daily trading volume exceeded $2.5 billion, ranking among the top five in spot trading volumes for bitcoin and ethereum. The company lists Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken as its main competitors.
At the same time, 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 services have served a total of 171,000 users globally. Additionally, the company's media website attracted 55 million unique visitors in 2024.
Financial data shows that Bullish's digital asset sales for the first quarter of this year amounted to $80.2 billion, which is comparable to the same period last year, but the net loss was $348 million, compared to a net profit of $104 million in the same period last year.
However, the performance difference is mainly due to the company's held digital assets, which recorded an impairment of $246 million in the first quarter. With the rise in bitcoin prices, asset appreciation will positively impact future financial reports.
Bullish's submission of the IPO application at this moment seems to be motivated by the desire to go public amid the heated cryptocurrency legislation in the United States.
In comparison, Circle submitted its S-1 form on April 1 of this year but got stuck in the Senate's approval process for the stablecoin bill before going public. Since trading began on June 5, the company's stock price has risen from an issue 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 significantly anticipated the rapid development of stablecoins.
For Bullish, a potential 'windfall' moment will be when the U.S. Congress reviews the cryptocurrency regulatory framework bill. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) (CLARITY Act), but it is reported that the U.S. Senate is considering launching another version of the cryptocurrency regulatory framework. Therefore, all parties currently expect that the voting node for this bill's sprint could 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 this year, the company obtained a cryptocurrency asset trading and custody license issued by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, allowing it to provide services in the European Economic Area.
Subsequently, in February 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 significant number of 'No. 1 licenses' upgraded by Hong Kong brokerages.
