A Major IPO in the Crypto Sphere! Bullish, Backed by Peter Thiel, is Set to Go Public—Can It Be the Next Circle?

7月19日，由硅谷億萬富翁彼得·蒂爾（Peter Thiel）支持的 $Bullish (BLSH.US)$ 正式向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交IPO申請，計劃以股票代碼「BLSH」登陸紐交所。這是自6月17日特朗普簽署《天才法案》以來，首個加密貨幣IPO項目。

此舉令投資者不禁聯想到今年「穩定幣第一股」Circle的亮眼表現。市場正期待，看Bullish能否成為下一個Circle。

據最新消息報道，Bullish發行區間為28美元到31美元，發行2030萬股，最高募資6.29億美元。按最高發行價計算，Bullish的估值將達到42億美元。這將成為法案后首家沖刺美股上市的加密企業。

那麼本次上次的Bullish具體是什麼公司？業績幾何？牛牛接下來將一一講解。

What kind of company is Bullish?

Bullish, founded in 2021, is a rising star in the crypto exchange Industry, backed by a lead investment from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Thiel Capital, with participation from Nomura and Mike Novogratz, among others.

Bullish is a global digital assets platform focused on institutional clients, with its core business encompassing two sectors:institutional-grade digital assets trading infrastructure and a digital assets information service system.

I. Institutional-Grade Digital Assets Trading Infrastructure： The multi-regulated Bullish Exchange provides spot and derivatives trading services for cryptos, supporting major assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

According to the prospectus, in the first quarter of 2025, the daily trading volume on Bullish Exchange exceeded $25 billion, making it one of the top five exchanges for Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading; since its launch, the total trading volume on Bullish Exchange has surpassed $1.25 trillion.

Source: Prospectus

II. Digital Assets Information Service System: Through the acquisition of CoinDesk and CCData, Bullish has built a full-service ecosystem covering market data, index compilation, and industry news. Notably, the well-known crypto media platform CoinDesk reached 55 million independent visits in 2024, with its data and index services covering 171,000 users; the addition of CCData significantly enhanced the professionalism of the data solutions.

Source: Prospectus

Overall, Bullish's business structure is a dual-driven model of exchange and media, which the company believes can generate a synergistic flywheel effect,promoting the cross-utilization of products and services.

For example, tradeable products supported by CoinDesk Indices will be listed on the Bullish Exchange and backed by a unified and efficient cost base across the enterprise. Additionally, the integration of CoinDesk Data with CoinDesk Indices enhances this flywheel effect, as CoinDesk Data provides comprehensive market insights and analysis that underpin the indices, while CoinDesk Indices leverages this data to develop index solutions, thereby strengthening each other's business.

Source: Prospectus

Furthermore, Bullish has been actively advancing its compliance layout globally in recent years. It has established subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands, the United States, Singapore, Gibraltar, Germany, and Hong Kong, including obtaining a virtual asset trading platform license from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong earlier this year.

How is the business?

Bullish's digital assets sales for 2022, 2023, and 2024 were $72.89 billion, $116.49 billion, and $250.2 billion, respectively; the net profits for these years were -$4.246 billion, $1.300 billion, and $79.564 million, respectively.

Source: Prospectus

From the first-quarter performance, Bullish's digital assets sales in the first quarter of 2025 were $80.236 billion, with a net loss of $348 million. This was mainly due to a one-time impairment of $246 million caused by the Bitcoin price retraction in the first quarter.The company holds over 24,000 Bitcoins and is expected to become the fifth-largest Bitcoin-holding company globally after listing.

Despite the pressure on performance, Bullish has seen significant growth in trading volume in recent years. In 2024, its total trading volume reached $546.7 billion, a 173% increase from 2023. The trading volumes of Bitcoin and Ethereum increased by 142% and 148%, respectively, while the trading volume of 'other assets' surged by 517%.This growth trend reflects Bullish's initial success in attracting institutional clients, enhancing market liquidity, and increasing platform activity, gradually establishing itself as a key player in the global crypto exchange industry.This growth trend reflects Bullish's initial success in attracting institutional clients, enhancing market liquidity, and increasing platform activity, gradually establishing itself as a key player in the global crypto exchange industry.

Source: Prospectus

Ultra-luxurious shareholder lineup

Bullish's Chairman and CEO is Thomas W. Farley, and the CFO is David W. Bonanno. Before becoming Bullish's CEO, Tom Farley served as the President of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and was the Chairman and CEO of FPAC.

A key shareholder, Peter Thiel, is one of the most influential investors in Silicon Valley. His firms, Founders Fund and Thiel Capital, are among the earliest and most committed investors in Bullish. It is worth noting that,Peter Thiel is a key member of the PayPal Mafia and a co-founder of Palantir, with extensive investment experience.

Source: Prospectus

Overall, leveraging the opportunities presented by a more relaxed regulatory environment and a rebound in capital markets, Bullish is attempting to gain entry into the mainstream market. However, the company still faces significant challenges in establishing a firm foothold in the capital markets.

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