Ark Invest Buys 2.53M Bullish Shares Across Three ETFs After Wild IPO Surge

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has disclosed its recent purchase of a total of 2.53 million shares of Bullish across three of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

According to the firm’s latest trade disclosure, the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) bought 1.7 million shares of Bullish, followed by the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF’s (ARKW) acquisition of 545,416 shares. Meanwhile, the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) also bought 272,755 Bullish shares. All three purchases were made on Wednesday.

Ark Invest bought 2,532,693 shares of the Bullish $BLSH IPO today 👀 pic.twitter.com/MXMdF6R8vP

— The Market Matrix (@MarketMatrixs) August 14, 2025

The $172 million worth of purchase comes after Bullish began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 13. The Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency exchange made an impressive IPO debut at $37 per share, surpassing expectations of $32 to $33.

Bullish Shares Surged Over 200% – Strong Institutional Appetite

Shortly after Bullish’s debut, the crypto exchange shares soared to an intraday high of 200% gains from its IPO price. However, the stock was halted for trading later, due to volatility.

At the end of the day, the stock finished at $68, rising 84% over 24 hours, Yahoo Finance data revealed.

Bullish garnered increased institutional interest ahead of its IPO. At the launch, BlackRock and ARK Investment Management expressed interest in acquiring up to $200 million worth of shares.

“I believe that the digital assets industry is at the inflection point of institutional adoption and Bullish is uniquely positioned at the center of this market,” said Bullish CEO Thomas Farley in a letter to investors about Bullish’s offering.

Growing IPO Demand

With Trump Administration’s pro-crypto agenda, IPO’s are coming back with increasing demand from institutional players. With the recent listing, Bullish has joined the burgeoning list of crypto players eyeing the IPO market.

Stablecoin issuer Circle upsized its initial IPO in June, offering 32 million shares, up from a previously planned 24 million. The company revised the range of $27 to $28 per share. The shares have increased more than 400% since then.

In July, designer giant Figma went public, disclosing $69.5 million in spot Bitcoin ETFs in its SEC IPO filing. Shares of Figma surged 250% in its market debut by the end of July.