CoinDesk owner Bullish ups IPO goal to $1B as Wall Street backs crypto push

Digital asset exchange operator Bullish raised the target valuation for its initial public offering by almost 60% to potentially $990 million, a move that may reflect growing investor appetite amid renewed momentum in crypto-related stocks.

Bullish now plans to sell 30 million shares at $32 to $33 apiece, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing recent regulatory filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). That’s nearly 60% higher than the upper range of its earlier target.

If the IPO meets expectations, Bullish would debut with a market capitalization of about $4.8 billion — up from the $4.2 billion goal set in early August.

Bullish’s updated Form F-1 registration statement. Source: SECThe IPO is being led by Wall Street heavyweights JPMorgan, Jefferies and Citigroup. Bullish plans to list under the ticker symbol “BLSH,” according to the filing

Several institutional investors, including subsidiaries of BlackRock and ARK Investment Management, have already signaled interest in the offering.

In its filing, the company pointed to rising activity in digital asset markets and increasing adoption by traditional financial institutions such as BlackRock, Fidelity, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs as key drivers behind its decision to go public.

In addition to operating an institutional-grade digital asset platform, Bullish expanded into crypto media in November 2023, acquiring CoinDesk from Digital Currency Group in a $72.6 million deal.

Related: Citigroup, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs lead TradFi's blockchain charge: Ripple

Institutional appetite for digital assets reaches new highs

Bullish and other crypto-focused companies want to capitalize on strong market sentiment, raising funds to fuel growth as institutional interest in digital assets accelerates. They follow in the footsteps of stablecoin issuer Circle, which earlier this year completed a blockbuster IPO that raised more than $1 billion.

Since its debut, Circle’s market capitalization has climbed to about $41 billion, with its share price up roughly 140%.

Circle shares now trade at roughly $165, up 140% from their debut price. Source: Yahoo FinanceBeyond crypto-related stock offerings, institutional interest in digital assets is accelerating in other areas. In recent months, inflows into spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds have surged, more public companies have added digital assets to their corporate treasuries, and university endowments and pension funds have also been seeking exposure to the asset class.

According to Bitbo data, ETFs, along with public and private companies, collectively hold more than 13.5% of the total Bitcoin supply.

Related: Crypto Biz: Has SEC’s Project Crypto been priced in?

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