Bullish, the cryptocurrency exchange backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, has filed confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering, according to sources cited by the Financial Times.
Jefferies has reportedly been selected as the lead underwriter for the IPO. Bullish has yet to publicly confirm the filing.
The move comes as several crypto firms look to take advantage of renewed investor interest and a more favorable regulatory environment under the Trump administration.
Bullish previously attempted to go public in 2021 through a SPAC deal, but the plan fell through amid market volatility and rising interest rates.
Successful Crypto IPOs Inspire Bullish’s Renewed Push Toward Public Listing
A wave of recent crypto IPO successes appears to have encouraged Bullish’s renewed push to go public. Last week, USDC issuer Circle made a strong public debut, raising $1.1 billion and soaring 167% on its first day of trading—well above expectations.
On June 6, Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, also filed confidentially for a U.S. listing. The twins, who have publicly backed Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, have also supported crypto-focused political action committees.
Meanwhile, social trading platform eToro officially listed on Nasdaq under the ticker ETOR on May 14, following a confidential SEC filing and with Goldman Sachs leading the process.
Bullish is helmed by CEO Tom Farley, a former president of NYSE Group. The firm’s backer, Peter Thiel, an early Bitcoin supporter, was a major donor to Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Crypto Firm Listings Outpace Traditional IPOs Amid Market Resurgence
Despite a recent uptick in IPO activity, crypto listings are still outpacing traditional stock market debuts in terms of performance.
A CoinMarketCap report published on April 3 revealed that, over the past 180 days, tokens listed on major crypto exchanges delivered an average return on investment (ROI) of more than 80%—outperforming major stock indexes such as the Nasdaq and Dow Jones.
The report also highlighted that 68% of crypto listings generated positive returns, outperforming the New York Stock Exchange’s 54% and the Nasdaq’s 51% over the same period.
