TLDR
- Bullish (BLSH) priced its IPO at $37 per share, above the expected $32-33 range, raising $1.1 billion
- Stock closed first trading day at $68, up 84%, after opening at $90 and hitting $118 intraday
- Premarket Thursday showed another 14% gain to $77.58, pushing market cap toward $11.5 billion
- Bitcoin reached record high above $124,000, providing tailwind for crypto-related stocks
- BlackRock and Ark Invest showed interest in purchasing up to $200 million worth of shares
Bullish stock exploded out of the gate on its first day of trading Wednesday. The crypto exchange operator closed at $68 per share, an 84% jump from its $37 IPO price.
The stock didn’t stop there. Thursday’s premarket trading showed another 14% gain to $77.58, pushing the company’s market value closer to $11.5 billion.
Wednesday’s trading was wild from the start. Shares opened at $90 around 1:00 p.m. ET and quickly shot up to $118. That represented a more than 215% gain from the IPO price.
Trading was halted at least twice due to volatility in those first few minutes. The stock eventually settled back from its highs but still delivered massive gains for investors.
The IPO pricing came in above expectations. Bullish originally targeted $32 to $33 per share. Even earlier in the process, the company was looking at just $28 to $31 per share.
At 30 million shares offered, the final $37 price let Bullish raise $1.1 billion. The deal valued the company at $5.41 billion before trading began.
This wasn’t Bullish’s first attempt at going public. The company tried a SPAC merger in 2021 that would have valued it at $9 billion. That deal collapsed after regulatory scrutiny forced Bullish to withdraw its registration.
Big Names Backed the Deal
BlackRock and Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest expressed interest in buying up to $200 million worth of shares. That kind of institutional support helped fuel investor confidence.
“We now intend to IPO because we believe the digital assets industry is beginning its next leg of growth,” CEO Thomas Farley said in a letter to investors. Farley previously served as COO and president of the NYSE Group.
Bullish operates a crypto exchange focused on institutional clients. The platform processed an average of $2.6 billion in daily volume through the first quarter.
The company also owns CoinDesk, the prominent crypto news publication. This gives Bullish both trading and media assets in the digital currency space.
Bitcoin’s surge helped boost interest in crypto stocks. The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit a record high above $124,000 overnight. It has since pulled back to below $122,000 but remains up about 2% over 24 hours.
IPO Market Shows Strength
Bullish joins a string of successful public debuts this year. Circle Internet Group, the USDC stablecoin manager, soared 168% on its first day in June.
Design software maker Figma jumped more than 250% in its late July offering. AI infrastructure provider CoreWeave is up over 200% since its March debut.
The year 2025 has seen 133 IPOs worth more than $50 million come to market through Wednesday. That’s up more than 58% from the same period last year, according to Renaissance Capital.
“Bitcoin’s price momentum this week reflects growing global conviction,” said Willem Schroé, CEO of Botanix Labs. “A potential Fed rate cut is boosting demand for harder assets, while the Bullish IPO shows institutional confidence in crypto’s future.”
The crypto rally extends beyond Bitcoin. Ethereum is up more than 40% this year, while Ripple’s XRP has gained more than 57%.
Bullish stock was set to continue its gains Thursday with premarket trading showing the momentum isn’t slowing down yet.
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