Author: 1912212.eth, Foresight News
In May 2018, investor Li Xiaolai boldly stated, "Let's look at EOS again in seven years." Seven years later, the price of EOS has plummeted by more than 40 times from its peak.
Ironically, Bullish, founded by Block.one behind the EOS platform, is set to go public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on August 13, 2025 (exactly seven years later), with the stock ticker "BLSH." Trading is expected to commence at 21:30 Beijing time on August 13. Block.one has become a significant player in the crypto ecosystem through its core business—Bullish, an institutional-grade digital asset platform, and the CoinDesk media platform.
Amid the wave of crypto company IPOs, Foresight News provides a data-driven insight into Bullish.
Target Valuation of $4.8 Billion
Bullish's IPO pricing range has recently been raised to $32-33 per share, with the number of shares issued increasing to 30 million, targeting a fundraising amount of up to $990 million, resulting in a valuation of approximately $4.8 billion. This is an increase from earlier plans (selling 20.3 million shares at $28 to $31 each). This adjustment reflects strong investor demand for crypto infrastructure, especially against the backdrop of Bitcoin prices stabilizing above $110,000 and rising institutional adoption.
BlackRock and Cathie Wood's ARK have indicated plans to purchase $200 million worth of shares. Bullish is expected to price on Tuesday of this week, with trading starting the following day.
Bullish was officially established in June 2021, headquartered in the Cayman Islands, with subsidiaries in Hong Kong, the United States, Singapore, and other locations. Its core business is divided into two main segments: the Bullish exchange, which offers spot, leverage, and derivatives trading services, regulated by Germany, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar; and CoinDesk, which focuses on indices, data, and insights services.
As of March 31, 2025, the Bullish exchange supports over 70 spot trading pairs and 45 perpetual futures pairs, serving qualified clients in more than 50 jurisdictions worldwide. In terms of trading volume, the platform has recorded a cumulative trading volume exceeding $12.5 trillion since its launch, with global spot trading market shares for Bitcoin (BTC/USDx) and Ethereum (ETH/USDx) in 2024 amounting to $284.8 billion and $144.5 billion, respectively, demonstrating its competitiveness in the institutional market.
User growth is a significant driving force behind Bullish's development. In 2024, the number of active institutional clients grew by 36% year-on-year, while CoinDesk attracted over 55 million unique visitors, with an average monthly user count of 10.7 million. The assets under management (AUM) of CoinDesk's index products exceeded $41 billion, with related trading volume reaching $15 billion (as of June 30, 2025). Bullish is not only focusing on trading infrastructure but also building an ecological closed loop through media and data services.
Financial performance further supports its growth momentum. According to the SEC F-1 filing, the net revenue for the entire year of 2024 was $80 million, with an adjusted EBITDA of $52 million. However, the first quarter of 2025 recorded a net loss of $349 million, primarily affected by fluctuations in digital asset prices and operational costs. Nevertheless, the adjusted net income remained at $2 million, indicating stable profitability in its core business.
Preliminary estimates for the second quarter show total revenue between $60 million and $62 million, with adjusted EBITDA ranging from $10 million to $14 million, and net income varying from -$2 million to $6 million. Revenue sources are diverse, including trading fees, spreads, licensing fees, and advertising, with adjusted trading revenue for the second quarter of 2025 expected to be between $56 million and $58 million.
Holding $3 Billion in Crypto Assets
In May 2021, Block.one launched Bullish Global and injected $1 billion into it, including $100 million in cash, 164,000 Bitcoins (valued at approximately $9.7 billion at the time), and 20 million EOS tokens. External investors also contributed an additional $300 million, including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, hedge fund mogul Alan Howard, and well-known crypto investor Mike Novogratz.
The company's CEO, Tom Farley, previously served as president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and has extensive experience in traditional financial markets, excelling in driving the development of institutional trading platforms. David Bonanno is now the CFO of Bullish, having previously served as CFO of Far Peak Acquisition Corp, playing a key role in capital allocation, business strategy, and critical partnerships. Additionally, COO Sarah Johnson has excelled in compliance and risk management, having worked at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, helping Bullish obtain regulatory licenses in multiple jurisdictions.
The prospectus (Form F-1) reveals that Bullish plans to convert more than 50% of the funds raised from the IPO into USD stablecoins to enhance liquidity and hedge against crypto market volatility.
In the first quarter of 2025, Bullish's Bitcoin trading volume was $108.6 billion, a 36% increase from $80.08 billion in the same period last year. The daily trading volume for Bitcoin was $1.207 billion, up 37% from $880 million in the same period last year.
The prospectus shows that Bullish's digital asset sales for 2022, 2023, and 2024 were $72.89 billion, $116.49 billion, and $250.2 billion, respectively; net profits were -$4.246 billion, $1.3 billion, and $79.56 million.
As of August 2025, the company stated in its filing submitted on Monday that it currently holds over $3 billion in liquid assets, including: 24,000 Bitcoins; 12,600 ETH; and $418 million in cash and stablecoins. By the end of the second quarter, liquid assets are estimated to have increased to $2.05-2.15 billion, with net liquid assets of $1.499-1.599 billion.
Bullish's predecessor, Block.one, raised approximately $4.18 billion through the EOS ICO (Initial Coin Offering) from 2017 to 2018, one of the largest ICOs in crypto history, to develop the EOS platform.
The EOS tokens have long been distributed to investors, while the continuous cash flow and revenue have been used to purchase Bitcoin and Ethereum. Just from this investment alone, Bullish has reaped substantial profits.
EOS has failed to thrive amid high expectations, and whether the exchange Bullish created by Block.one can truly succeed remains an open question.
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