Bullish is set to log in to the New York Stock Exchange, expecting to raise nearly $1 billion.

Following a well-known cryptocurrency exchange, Bullish will become the second cryptocurrency exchange to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company plans to raise approximately $990 million through its initial public offering (IPO).

This listing reflects the enthusiasm of the US stock market for cryptocurrency companies. In the past six months, several well-known technology and financial companies have successfully gone public, and a large cryptocurrency exchange has even been included in the S&P 500 index, opening the doors to the capital market for the cryptocurrency industry.

The debut of Bullish may be the most eye-catching in this trend. This exchange, with assets totaling $3 billion, not only has the support of several top investors but has also acquired a well-known media platform in the industry, holding significant influence. Its CEO, Tom Farley, has even served as the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.

The strong background and aura have led to exceptionally strong demand from investors for Bullish's IPO, prompting the company to raise the fundraising scale from $629 million to $990 million.

However, behind Bullish's shiny resume lies a past that has sparked controversy in the crypto community, involving the direction of massive financing, the conflict between the community and capital, and an abandoned public chain project.

4.2 billion dollars in controversy

The relationship between Bullish and a well-known public chain project can be described as that of an ex and a current partner - they understand each other without saying a word, yet they find it difficult to sit at the same table.

After the news of Bullish secretly submitting an IPO application broke, the token price of this public chain project surged by 17%, as if old flames were rekindled. However, in the eyes of the community, this increase seemed more like a mockery, as the original operators had long since switched to Bullish, abandoning the original project.

The story begins in 2017. At that time, the public chain track was in its golden period, and a white paper could serve as a ticket to enter, with the vision being the best fundraising tool. A certain company launched a new public chain project with the bold claim of "one million TPS and zero fees," attracting global investors to flock in.

In 2018, the project raised $4.2 billion through an ICO, setting a record for fundraising in the cryptocurrency industry and being dubbed the "Ethereum killer."

However, the myth quickly shattered. After the mainnet went live, users found that reality was far from the white paper: transfers required staked resources, the process was cumbersome and the threshold was high; node elections also failed to achieve the expected "decentralized democracy" and instead turned into a vote warehouse game for big players and exchanges.

Technical defects are merely superficial; the deeper issue lies in the uneven allocation of resources. Although the operators promised to allocate 1 billion dollars to support the ecosystem, 2.2 billion of the 4.2 billion dollars raised has been used to purchase U.S. Treasury bonds to secure low-risk returns, as well as for stock trading, acquisitions, and other investment attempts. The actual funds flowing to the developer ecosystem are very limited.

The bullish debut in 2021 became the last straw that broke the community's patience. The operators announced the launch of this brand new cryptocurrency trading platform, raising $1 billion, yet had no connection to the original public chain project. The community believes this is a blatant betrayal: the operators leveraged the original project to raise a huge amount of funds, but then took a different path at the peak, making a glamorous turnaround and leaving the original project behind.

After that, the community retaliated multiple times, trying to regain funds and governance rights through negotiation and litigation. Although they ultimately expelled the operator from the management, the ownership and control of the funds still remained in the hands of the other party.

For long-time users who have experienced the highs and lows of the project, Bullish is not an irrelevant new project, but a coronation exchanged for their ideals - glamorous, expensive, yet awkward.

The New Starting Point of Bullish

Bullish, born out of the aforementioned controversy, initially received $100 million in cash investment support. It also attracted several well-known investors and top venture capital firms to join, boasting a luxurious lineup. This allowed Bullish to have an initial capital of up to $1 billion early on, far surpassing its competitors.

Since 2021, Bullish's core business has revolved around its exchange. With an innovative hybrid liquidity model, Bullish has maintained strong performance in various market environments, quickly gaining favor among institutional clients and successfully ranking as the fifth largest crypto exchange globally.

In 2023, Bullish acquired a leading global crypto media platform, further consolidating its industry influence. The platform had an average of 4.96 million unique visitors per month in 2024. Bullish also launched an index business and acquired a data service company to provide market insights for institutional clients.

In addition, Bullish has established a venture capital department, investing in several well-known crypto projects to achieve diversified布局.

In terms of financial performance, Bullish currently has a relatively single source of revenue, with spot trading income from the exchange accounting for 70%-80% of total revenue. In the first quarter of 2025, there was a net loss of $349 million, primarily due to the decline in the fair value of crypto assets.

The revenue from media business has grown significantly, with subscription income reaching 20 million dollars in the first quarter of 2025, a year-on-year increase of over 100%.

Compared to its main competitors, Bullish's revenue and profit are somewhat inferior. However, its spot trading volume has seen remarkable growth, even slightly surpassing that of a major exchange in the first quarter of 2025. This is mainly due to the strategy of actively reducing trading spreads, which, while expanding market share, has also impacted profitability.

In the face of increasingly fierce market competition, Bullish plans to explore a second growth curve by expanding its product lines, including derivatives, and making strategic acquisitions.

Considerations Behind the 4.8 Billion Valuation

Bullish's financial strength is largely attributed to early massive funding. In addition to allocating U.S. Treasury bonds and sporadic equity investments, it also heavily invested in 160,000 bitcoins early on, becoming the private company with the largest amount of holdings in the world.

As of the first quarter of 2025, Bullish's total assets exceed $3 billion, including 24,000 bitcoins, 12,600 ethers, and $418 million in cash and stablecoins. In terms of bitcoin holdings alone, Bullish is close to twice that of a major exchange.

The thickness of such assets makes Bullish's $4.8 billion IPO valuation seem relatively conservative. The company significantly raised its issuance plan at the last moment, reflecting the market's enthusiastic demand. A well-known asset management company will subscribe to $200 million worth of shares at the IPO issue price, further boosting market enthusiasm.

However, this IPO has less than 15% of its shares in circulation, with most still held by major shareholders and early investors. This low circulation strategy may trigger a "rush for shares" on the first day, but it also plants the seeds for a future large-scale sell-off.

It is worth noting that this is not Bullish's first attempt to go public. During the peak of the bull market in 2021, the company planned to go public through a SPAC at a valuation of $9 billion, but it was terminated in 2022 due to regulatory and market reasons.

Nowadays, Bitcoin has surged again, and several crypto companies have successfully gone public. Bullish is making another attempt at the New York Stock Exchange with a lower valuation and a carefully crafted strategy. Whether this combination of "valuation compression + circulation tightening + bull market timing" will succeed remains to be seen by the market.

For investors who understand the inside story, perhaps the more important insight is - do not have overly high expectations of such companies to avoid repeating past mistakes.