Bullish Crypto Giant Charges Toward NYSE IPO—Wall Street Braces for Disruption

Crypto's marching onto Wall Street's turf—again. Bullish, the digital assets heavyweight, just filed paperwork for a NYSE listing, flipping the bird to traditional finance's skepticism. Here's why it matters.

The playbook: No half-measures. This isn't some defunct SPAC merger or regulatory gray-area play. Bullish is going full Main Street with proper SEC scrutiny—the same path Coinbase walked before becoming a household name.

Timing is everything: Filing mid-2025 shows brass balls. The crypto winter's thawing, but institutional investors still clutch their pearls at the slightest volatility. Bullish bets they'll cave when shown legit revenue streams.

Wall Street's dilemma: Embrace the disruptor or get steamrolled? TradFi banks now face an uncomfortable choice—underwrite their own competition or miss the boat entirely. (Cue the usual 'this time it's different' denial.)

One thing's certain: The suits won't know what hit them when crypto-native firms start playing by their rules—and winning.

Bullish, a global digital asset platform catering to institutional clients, announced Saturday that it has publicly filed a FORM F-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its ordinary shares.

This MOVE signifies a major step for the crypto-native company to enter traditional equity markets, reflecting the growing institutional interest and maturation of the digital asset industry.

Bullish, which operates a regulated digital assets spot and derivatives exchange (Bullish Exchange), also encompasses CoinDesk Indices, CoinDesk Data, and CoinDesk Insights, including the crypto news platform Coindesk.com. The company highlighted its focus on providing market infrastructure and information services, aiming to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the digital asset ecosystem.

While the number of shares and the price range for the proposed offering have yet to be determined, Bullish has applied to list its ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "BLSH." The IPO's completion remains subject to market conditions and regulatory effectiveness of the registration statement.

The offering will be managed by a syndicate of major financial institutions, with J.P. Morgan and Jefferies acting as lead book-running managers, and Citigroup as a joint book-running manager. Additional book-running managers include Cantor, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Societe Generale, with Canaccord Genuity, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (a Stifel Company), and Oppenheimer & Co. serving as co-managers.

Bullish, incubated by blockchain firm Block.one and backed by investors such as Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Nomura, and Mike Novogratz, has seen significant activity on its exchange. As of March 31, 2025, the Bullish Exchange has processed over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume since its launch, with an average daily trading volume exceeding $2.5 billion in Q1 2025. This volume places it among the top global exchanges for spot Bitcoin and ethereum trading. The company's acquisition of CoinDesk in 2023 further expanded its footprint in the digital asset information and media landscape.

The filing of this IPO follows a trend of crypto companies seeking public listings amidst evolving regulatory clarity and increased institutional adoption in 2025.