Cryptocurrency platform Bullish publicly filed its F-1 registration with the SEC on Monday, signaling its plan to offer 20,300,000 ordinary shares in an initial public offering (IPO) which would raise up to $629 million.
The Peter Thiel-backed firm expects to offer its shares in the range of $28-31 dollars, providing a valuation of somewhere between $3.8 and $4.2 billion based on the expected shares outstanding following the offering.
“We now intend to IPO because we believe that the digital assets industry is beginning its next leg of growth. We view transparency and compliance as hallmarks of how we operate Bullish, and believe those values align well with the public capital markets,” said Bullish CEO Tom Farley in a letter included with the filing.
“We also believe that becoming a publicly-traded company provides our business with key benefits: additional credibility with partners, counterparties and regulators; access to capital; and an equity currency with which to make strategic acquisitions.”
This marks the exchange’s second attempt at becoming a publicly traded company.
In 2021, it agreed to go public via merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Far Peak in a merger that valued the firm around $9 billion.
Those plans fell apart in 2022 though due to “time constraints and market conditions.”
Three years later, Bullish is capitalizing on the regulatory easing and favorable sentiment ushered in with President Donald Trump’s administration.
“I believe that the digital assets industry is at the inflection point of institutional adoption and Bullish is uniquely positioned at the center of this market,” said Farley. “The compliant, institutional-focused market infrastructure model is time-tested and works, and Bullish is proud to be the one bringing this proven framework to the crypto landscape.”
Expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange with ticker “BLSH,” the exchange follows a pair of prominent crypto IPOs from earlier this year, including the dramatically successful debut of stablecoin issuer Circle and fellow crypto exchange, eToro.
Other prominent exchanges in the industry have signaled their intent to join that list of IPOs as well, with recent signals from exchanges like OKX and Kraken and a confidential filing from Gemini.
Bullish, which also owns crypto media publication CoinDesk, aims to improve its information services offerings, expand its geographical footprint and improve product breadth, with a special mention given to options trading.
The firm estimates a change of nearly $225 million in net income for the 3-month period ending June 30, 2025 when compared to that of 2024–largely driven by “favorable changes in fair value of digital assets,” not its operating income. Its exchange more than doubled its total 2023 trading volumes last year and experienced a 78% gain in volumes in Q1 2025 when compared to 2024.