Cryptocurrency exchange operator and media company Bullish made an enormous public debut on the New York Stock Exchange, with shares surging as much as 218% — a clear sign of heightened institutional appetite for crypto-related assets.
After weeks of speculation, Bullish went public on Wednesday at an IPO price of $37, above its earlier target range of $32 to $33 per share.
The stock, trading under the ticker symbol BLSH, soared to an intraday high of $118.00, marking a 218% gain from its IPO price, on trading volume of roughly 38 million shares, according to Yahoo Finance data.
By the afternoon session, Bullish shares were still up 131% at about $86, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $13 billion. As Cointelegraph reported, Bullish had initially aimed for a $4.8 billion valuation based on the planned issuance of 20.3 million shares.
However, reports on Wednesday confirmed that the company issued 30 million shares in its debut, an indication of strong, pent-up demand.
Founded in 2021 as an institutional digital asset platform, Bullish expanded into crypto media in 2023 with its $72.6 million acquisition of CoinDesk, the world’s second-largest crypto publication by readership. The company counts PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel among its backers.
Bullish initially planned to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2021, but the deal ultimately fell through.
That delay may have ultimately worked in Bullish’s favor, as 2025 is proving to be a much more favorable environment for crypto-focused IPOs.
An increasing number of digital asset companies are going public on Wall Street, buoyed by the Trump administration’s push for innovation and adoption through the recently enacted GENIUS Act, as well as the pending CLARITY Act and Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act — both of which passed the House of Representatives before the August recess.
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Bullish signals continuation of crypto IPO rush
The public debut of Bullish “reflects a clear surge in institutional appetite for crypto-native companies,” Peter Kozyakov, co-founder and CEO of Web3 payment platform Mercuryo, told Cointelegraph.
“We’re seeing demand for IPOs coming from institutional investors who are now actively looking for exposure to the companies that connect digital token services to the real economy, whether that be exchanges, stablecoin issuers or payments platforms,” he said.
Kozyakov attributed the trend to clearer, pro-industry regulatory shifts worldwide, which have made compliant crypto firms increasingly attractive to major investors.
“The Bullish IPO has not been chasing hype and is a clear example of this pattern at play. It is a firm with strong governance, a regulated approach, and institutional-grade infrastructure,” he added.
That could help explain why Bullish’s regulatory filings identified affiliates of BlackRock and ARK Investment Management among the largest buyers in its IPO.
Related: GENIUS Act yield ban may push trillions into tokenized assets — ex-bank exec
