Bullish Confidentially Filed for a U.S. IPO, Targeting Listing This Year: FT

Crypto exchange Bullish confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation.

Crypto exchange Bullish has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation.

The company is aiming to capitalize on renewed enthusiasm for digital assets.

The report did not distinguish between Bullish Exchange and its parent, Bullish Group, the Peter Thiel-backed company that is also the parent of CoinDesk.

The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission allows Bullish to prepare for a public listing while keeping financial details private for now. Jefferies will serve as lead underwriter, the Financial Times said.

Bullish previously attempted to go public in a SPAC deal in 2021. The plan collapsed the following year amid market volatility. Bullish Exchange is a Gibraltar regulated trading platform.

This time, the IPO filing comes as bitcoin trades around $110,000 and crypto sentiment strengthens amid favorable regulatory tailwinds.

The group is led by CEO Tom Farley, a former president of NYSE Group, and chaired by Brendan Blumer of Block.one. Thiel is a co-founder of PayPal (PYPL) and an early investor in Facebook, now Meta (META).

Jefferies declined to comment to the FT. Bullish did not respond to the FT and had not responded to a CoinDesk request for comment by publication time.

The report comes after another major crypto firm, Circle (CRCL), went public last week. Shares of the stablecoin issuer surged 168% on the first day of trading.