Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange operator, saw its stock price surge on its opening day, ending at $70 with a 90% gain. This gave the company a market cap above $10 billion. The stock opened for trade near 1:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday at $90 and peaked at $118 per share shortly after, a 215% gain.
However, the stock was halted for trade at least twice within the first few minutes due to volatility. Bullish, which operates a crypto exchange and owns the trade publication CoinDesk, launched its IPO on Tuesday. The company aimed higher than its anticipated price range of $32 to $33 per share.
In 2021, Bullish sought a valuation of $9 billion but faced regulatory hurdles, causing them to withdraw their registration at the time. The debut of Bullish follows recent successful high-profile public offerings, including Figma and Circle. This indicates that the IPO market is robust after several challenging years.
Bullish IPO highlights market optimism
Data from IPO tracker and ETF operator Renaissance Capital shows that the market has introduced entities worth more than $50 million this year, up by more than 58% compared to last year. Major institutional investors showed substantial interest in Bullish ahead of its IPO.
Firms such as BlackRock and Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest signaled their interest in the offering, according to securities filings. Bullish CEO Thomas Farley, formerly COO and president of the NYSE Group, said, “We now intend to IPO because we believe that the digital assets industry is beginning its next leg of growth. I believe that the digital assets industry is at the inflection point of institutional adoption and Bullish is uniquely positioned at the center of this market.”
Bullish’s primary business operations come from its Bullish Exchange, a digital assets spot and derivative exchange targeting institutional-sized clients.
The company’s prospectus shows that the exchange experienced robust activity throughout the first quarter of this year. The positive performance of digital assets this year also underscores Bullish’s strong IPO. Major cryptocurrencies have experienced substantial gains, with Bitcoin up more than 30%, Ethereum up more than 40%, and Ripple’s XRP up over 57% since the beginning of the year.
The successful public offering of Bullish suggests that Wall Street’s predictions for a sluggish IPO market in 2025 may have been overly pessimistic.
