Share this article
Crypto Platform Bullish Shares Debut Above $100, More Than Doubling IPO Price
The company opened for trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "BLSH" on Wednesday.
Updated Aug 14, 2025, 7:19 a.m. Published Aug 13, 2025, 5:08 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
What to know:
- Bullish (BLSH) opened on the NYSE Wednesday at $102 a share versus the $37 IPO price. They closed at $68.
- The IPO had expanded to 20.3 million shares earlier this week amid strong demand, with BlackRock and Ark Investment Management signaling interest in buying up to $200 million worth.
- Since launching in 2021, Bullish has processed over $1.25 trillion in trading volume and is entering public markets as Wall Street’s interest in regulated crypto platforms grows.
Shares of crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH) soared as high as $102 in initial trades on Wednesday, their first day of action on the New York Stock Exchange before closing at $68.
The company priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $37 per share, above the expected $32 to $33 range. That price valued the Cayman Island-based crypto exchange at a total market value of $5.4 billion.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Bullish, which is the owner of CoinDesk, earlier this week expanded the amount of shares it sold in its IPO to 20.3 million as investor appetite turned out to be larger than anticipated. Both BlackRock and Ark Investment Management had expressed interest to buy up to $200 million worth of shares.
“The last leg of growth in crypto in the last 10 years was basically all retail and if you look now, the institutional wave has begun, it’s here, it’s a question of how big it will be,” Bullish CEO Tom Farley said in an interview with CNBC.
Unlike retail-focused exchanges such as Coinbase or Kraken, Bullish targets institutional investors seeking exposure to digital assets while relying on the oversight and safeguards of a centralized platform.
The exchange saw trading volume of over $1.25 trillion as of March 31, since its launch in 2021, according to a filing.
“Bullish's $1.1 billion IPO raise reflects growing institutional confidence in the crypto exchange sector, driven by a favorable regulatory environment under the Trump administration and Bitcoin's surge past $100,000,” said Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research.
“This success, alongside Circle's strong IPO performance, signals that institutional investors are increasingly viewing centralized exchanges as viable long-term investments. However, sustained confidence will depend on regulatory clarity and market stability,” he said.
The company’s debut comes at a time of booming interest in crypto-related projects, specifically from Wall Street, as U.S. regulators are getting close to a regulatory framework for the space, allowing participants to engage in a safe way.
UPDATE (Aug. 14, 07:19 UTC): Adds closing share price in first paragraph.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Here's what bitcoin bulls are saying as price remains stuck during global rally
It's about a lot more than "zooming out." Supply overhangs and investor "muscle memory" regarding gold help explain bitcoin's poor absolute and relative performance.
What to know:
- Bitcoin has failed so far to act as an inflation hedge or safe-haven asset, lagging badly behind gold, which has surged amid high inflation, wars, and interest rate uncertainty.
- Crypto advocates argue that bitcoin’s weakness reflects a temporary supply overhang, investor “muscle memory” favoring familiar precious metals and its correlation with risk assets, rather than a collapse in long-term demand.
- Many bitcoin proponents still see BTC as a superior long-term store of value and “digital gold,” predicting that, once traditional hard assets are overbought, capital will rotate into bitcoin, allowing it to “catch up” to gold.
Top Stories
