Peter Thiel-backed Bullish seeks up to $4.2 billion valuation in US IPO

Crypto exchange Bullish is targeting a valuation of up to $4.23 billion in its United States listing, the company said in a filing on Monday, launching its roadshow to capitalize on the momentum built by digital assets amid regulatory clarity.

Companies leveraging crypto and related technologies have rallied on friendly policymaking from the Donald Trump administration, such as the recent passage of the GENIUS Act, which provides an initial regulatory framework for stablecoins.

Bullish, backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, plans to convert a significant portion of the IPO proceeds to U.S.-dollar denominated stablecoins with the assistance of one or more issuers of such tokens, it said in the filing.

Major stablecoin-issuer Circle Internet had a blowout debut on the NYSE in June and currently trades at more than 400 per cent its IPO price.

Bullish is seeking up to $629.3 million by offering 20.3 million shares priced between $28 and $31 each, marking its second attempt to go public in four years.

At the top of its proposed range, the company will list on a more than 52 per cent discount to its $9-billion valuation target in a 2021 blank check merger that it called off in 2022, citing regulatory hurdles.

Bullish, whose CEO Thomas Farley previously served as the president of the New York Stock Exchange, operates a crypto-trading exchange targeting institutions and is regulated in the U.S., Germany, Hong Kong and Gibraltar.

It also operates crypto news website CoinDesk, which it acquired from Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group in 2023.

J.P.Morgan, Jefferies and Citigroup are the lead underwriters and the company aims to list on the NYSE under the symbol “BLSH”.