‘Striking While the Iron Is Hot’... Bullish Raises IPO Price by 15%

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

Cryptocurrency exchange Bullish announced a new IPO price of $37 per share, surpassing the previously expected range of $32–$33.
Major institutions such as BlackRock and Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management have reportedly shown interest in purchasing up to $200 million worth of shares.
IPOs of cryptocurrency-related companies are actively progressing, reflecting heightened investor interest in the market.

At $37, Surpassing the Initial Expected Range of $32

BlackRock, Cathie Wood’s ARK Fund Express Interest

As cryptocurrency-related companies continue to go public, the crypto exchange Bullish has set its new listing price at $37 per share. This exceeds the anticipated range of $32 to $33, bringing the company’s total market value to $5.4 billion (₩7.5 trillion).

According to CNBC on the 13th (local time), Bullish, which starts trading from this day, is expected to raise $1.1 billion by offering 30 million shares in its IPO. Due to increasing investor interest, Bullish expanded the number of shares to be sold through the IPO from the initially expected 20.3 million at $28–$31 per share to 30.3 million shares.

Bullish shares will be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘BLSH’.

Bullish has granted its underwriters, led by JPMorgan, Jefferies, and Citigroup, a 30-day option to sell an additional 4.5 million shares.

BlackRock and Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management have expressed interest in purchasing up to $200 million worth of Bullish shares.

Bullish, led by former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Tom Farley, is headquartered in the Cayman Islands and is a cryptocurrency exchange targeting institutional investors, combining decentralized finance protocols with centralized security.

Since its launch in 2021, the Bullish platform has achieved a total trading volume exceeding $1.25 trillion as of March 31. The company also owns CoinDesk, a cryptocurrency news site providing indices, data, and analytics.

This is Bullish’s second attempt at listing. Bullish’s backers, including billionaire Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, have pursued the listing to capitalize on the cryptocurrency-friendly environment of the Trump Administration.

In June, the stablecoin issuer Circle also completed a successful IPO, raising more than $1 billion this year. Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital moved from Toronto to the Nasdaq exchange, while eToro, a stock and crypto trading app, achieved a $5.4 billion market valuation via IPO.

BitGo, a cryptocurrency custody service startup, and Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange, have also confidentially filed for U.S. listings.

Meanwhile, Circle (CRCL), which was listed on June 5, saw its closing price jump nearly 20% from an opening price of $69 per share to a closing price of $83.23 on its first day.

Contributing Reporter Jung-A Kim kja@hankyung.com