Shares of crypto exchange Bullish soared nearly 200% on its debut day of trading

Shares of cryptocurrency exchange operator Bullish rose sharply in trading on Wednesday, August 13, after the company raised about $1.1 billion in an initial public offering. Bullish, which is led by former New York Stock Exchange president Tom Farley and backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, targets institutional investors and combines decentralized finance protocols with the reliability of a conventional company.

Bullish's shares started trading on the New York Stock Exchange at $90 - nearly triple the IPO price of $37, which was already well above the originally announced range. The price then jumped more than 200%. Trading in the stock was halted due to volatility at least twice in the first few minutes of trading, Yahoo Finance reports . By the end of the debut day, the company's securities lost some of their growth and ended the session up 84%.

Bullish's market capitalization thus amounted to about $9.9 billion, according to closing data on Aug. 13, CNBC shows . In comparison, the company was valued at $5.4 billion during the IPO.

Its core business is Bullish Exchange, a spot and derivatives exchange for digital assets, targeting customers with institutional transaction volume. Since launching in 2021, total trading volume on this platform has exceeded $1.25 trillion, as of March 31. The company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. It also owns the industry publication CoinDesk.

The listing brings the fortune of Bullish co-founder Brendan Bloomer, who is the largest individual shareholder with a 30.1% stake, to $3.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Bullish continued this year's string of cryptocurrency IPOs that have brought billion-dollar fortunes to company insiders. Stablecoin issuer USDC Circle jumped 168% on its first day of trading in June and has since continued to rise, boosting co-founder Jeremy Allaire's fortune to $3.3 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Securities trading app Webull, which also offers bets on changes in cryptocurrency rates, surged more than 500% in the first two days of trading, making both co-founders billionaires, the agency recalls .

All of these companies are favored by the Donald Trump administration's affection for the cryptocurrency industry, which among other things led to the bitcoin rally, CNBC notes . In addition to them, stock and cryptocurrency trading app eToro went public in May, while cryptocurrency storage startup BitGo and cryptocurrency exchange Gemini filed confidential listing applications. In addition, Galaxy Digital, which invests in cryptocurrency and manages data centers - it moved its listing from the Toronto Stock Exchange to Nasdaq, CNBC writes.

"The last phase of growth in cryptocurrency over the last decade was essentially entirely retail, and [now] the institutional wave has started," Bullish CEO Tom Farley said on CNBC on Wednesday. - It's already here, and the only question is how big it's going to be. Judging by the response we've gotten from our IPO, institutional investors think this could be a watershed moment."

Freedom Broker analyst Alem Bektemirov recommended buying Bullish shares (Buy rating). His target price of $44 implies a potential upside of almost 42% relative to the closing on August 13, already taking into account the debut rally.

But Barron's urged investors to be cautious and pay attention to the fact that the company ended the first quarter of 2025 with a net loss of $349 million against a profit a year earlier. In addition, there is a small amount of free float in the stock, the publication said. It predicted the shortfall would artificially push the price up on the first day of trading and advised waiting until the end of the so-called lockup period, after which many early investors will be allowed to sell their shares. This could lead to market saturation and drive quotes down, Barron's noted.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor