Bullish (BLSH) made its public debut on August 13, 2025, in one of the most anticipated crypto exchange IPOs of the year. The company upsized its offering to 30 million shares at $37 per share (above its previously projected $32–$33 range), raising about $1.1 billion. The initial IPO valuation was approximately $5.4 billion, but enthusiastic trading quickly pushed Bullish’s market cap as high as $13.2 billion after shares soared to $90 on opening day. BLSH currently has a market cap closer to $10B with shares forming a cup and handle pattern under 69 that measures to an $80 target on a breakout. BlackRock and ARK Investment Management expressed interest in purchasing $200 million worth of shares at IPO pricing, evidencing strong institutional and fund backing.

Bullish is an institutional-focused, blockchain-based cryptocurrency exchange and liquidity platform, supported by major investor Peter Thiel. It operates deep-liquid markets for spot and futures trading, as well as margin and clearing services, combining central exchange performance with DeFi-style transparency and auditability. Bullish also owns CoinDesk, a leading crypto media and data provider. Led by CEO Tom Farley (former NYSE President), Bullish has established itself as a compliance-heavy, regulated venue focused on servicing institutional and sophisticated retail customers. The exchange boasts over $647 billion in spot volume across 70+ pairs and $111 billion in perpetual futures volume over 45 pairs (for the 12 months ended March 31, 2025).

IPO proceeds will be used for working capital, future acquisitions, and scaling Bullish’s market infrastructure globally. The firm intends to deepen institutional penetration, add new trading pairs and derivatives, and leverage CoinDesk for analytics services. Bullish made a post-IPO strategic investment in USD.AI, signaling an ongoing expansion into AI-powered trading infrastructure.

Bullish competes directly with global exchanges like Coinbase (COIN), Gemini, Kraken, Binance, and Bitfinex, but differentiates with advanced AMM and on-chain liquidity pools that drive deep markets and low trading costs, heavy institutional focus, with large clients and corporate treasury adoption supporting robust volume and regulatory wins under the current pro-crypto U.S. administration have enabled broad product offerings and attracted new ETF and institutional inflows.

Bullish reported estimated net income between $106M and $109M for Q2 2025, turning profitable after prior year losses. Operating revenue is trending near $80 million for the recent quarter, with margin pressures offset by trading fee growth, strong capital management, and tight control of SG&A outlays. Total adjusted revenue for Q3 2025 is expected to be in the range of $69 million to $76 million. Q3 adjusted EBITDA is anticipated between $25 million and $28 million, and adjusted net income between $12 million and $17 million. The primary driver of the revenue growth discussed for Q3 2025 is largely on the back of liquidity services. Bullish’s market share is less than 3% of global exchange volume, though it has grown rapidly among institutional spot and derivatives traders, aided by regulatory clarity and advanced liquidity services. If Bullish continues to capture market share and crypto volumes return to record highs, operating leverage could push annual net income to $300–$500M in the next 2–3 years.

Bullish differentiates itself through Tier 1 regulatory licenses, a global order book, an unconflicted business model, and predictable liquidity with tight spreads. The company supports trading for many different trading pairs and has established significant volume market share in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Stablecoins compared to regulated exchanges. Bullish is preparing for the full launch of its options trading platform in Q4 2025. Bullish is focused on growing its liquidity services offering, including collaborations with the Solana Foundation and other digital asset issuers. CoinDesk is focused on growing its indices, data, and insights services through new products, cross-selling, and expanding its customer base. Bullish is running a trader competition to attract new customers and promote its data and exchange services. The options market has been a tiny market in crypto, but the company expects it to grow. The addressable market of both new stablecoin entrants and non-stablecoin token issuers remains massive, leading to a deep and growing pipeline of future opportunities.

Industry analysts estimate that the crypto space will more than double in the coming years. Growth is expected to be largely driven by institutional adoption. Increasing regulatory clarity is emerging worldwide, including Europe’s MiCA regulations and Hong Kong’s ASPIRe roadmap. Optimism surrounds recent progress in the United States, including the adoption of the GENIUS Act, which defines stablecoin regulation. Institutions now comprise over half of crypto volume on U.S.-regulated exchanges, but overall crypto remains less than 2% of global investable assets—a major runway for growth as institutional adoption expands.