Thiel-Backed Bullish Makes High-Stakes NYSE Move
Digital asset platform Bullish announced on July 19 that it publicly filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its ordinary shares. The Cayman Islands-based firm stated:
Bullish has applied to list its ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘BLSH’.
The company has not yet disclosed the number of shares or a price range. Classified as a “foreign private issuer,” Bullish will be subject to reduced disclosure obligations under U.S. securities laws. The offering is subject to market conditions, and the underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase additional shares.
This move follows a previous attempt to go public in 2021 through a merger with Far Peak Acquisition Corp., a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), in a deal that valued Bullish at $9 billion. That transaction was terminated in 2022 due to a confluence of adverse factors, including a steep decline in crypto markets, heightened regulatory scrutiny on SPACs, and tightening monetary policy that weakened investor appetite for speculative assets. The company’s renewed push comes alongside other crypto firms such as Gemini and Grayscale, which have filed confidentially with the SEC.
These filings reflect a broader effort across the sector to access public capital and achieve regulatory clarity. Notably, Bullish has received early backing from billionaire investor Peter Thiel, whose firms, Founders Fund and Thiel Capital, were among its initial investors.
Bullish operates a regulated digital asset exchange with licenses in Germany, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar. The platform combines an automated market maker with a central limit order book to serve institutional clients. While it has global operations, its Hong Kong subsidiaries handle essential services such as custody, engineering, and compliance. Bullish stated that it does not operate in mainland China and is not subject to oversight by the China Securities Regulatory Commission or Cyberspace Administration of China.
