EOS Legacy: Can the encryption exchange Bullish replicate Coinbase's listing path?

Written by: 1912212.eth, Foresight News

In May 2018, investor Li Xiaolai boldly stated, "Look at EOS again in seven years." Seven years later, the price of EOS has dropped more than 40 times from its peak.

Ironically, Bullish, founded by Block.one behind the EOS platform, is set to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on August 13, 2025 (exactly seven years later), with the stock code "BLSH," and is expected to open for trading at 21:30 Beijing time on August 13. Through its core business—institutional-grade digital asset platform Bullish and the CoinDesk media platform—Block.one has become an important player in the crypto ecosystem.

Under the wave of cryptocurrency companies going public, Foresight News brings you insights into Bullish from a data perspective.

Target valuation 4.8 billion USD

The IPO pricing range for Bullish has recently been raised to $32-$33 per share, with the number of shares issued increased to 30 million, aiming to raise up to $990 million, with a valuation of approximately $4.8 billion. This is an increase from the earlier plan (to sell 20.3 million shares at $28 to $31 per share). 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 announced plans to purchase $200 million in shares. Bullish is expected to price on Tuesday this week and begin trading the following day.

Bullish was officially established in June 2021 and is headquartered in the Cayman Islands, with subsidiaries in places like Hong Kong, the United States, and Singapore. Its core business is divided into two main segments: the Bullish exchange provides spot, leverage, and derivatives trading services, regulated by Germany, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar; CoinDesk focuses on index, data, and insight services.

As of March 31, 2025, Bullish Exchange supports over 70 spot trading pairs and 45 perpetual futures pairs, serving qualified clients from more than 50 jurisdictions worldwide. In terms of trading volume, the platform has accumulated a total trading volume of over $1.25 trillion since its launch, with the global spot trading volume market shares for Bitcoin (BTC/USDx) and Ethereum (ETH/USDx) in 2024 being $284.8 billion and $144.5 billion, respectively, demonstrating its competitiveness in the institutional market.

User growth is an important driving force for Bullish's development. In 2024, the number of active institutional clients increased by 36% year-on-year, and CoinDesk attracted over 55 million unique visitors, with an average monthly user base 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.

The financial performance further supports its growth momentum. According to the SEC F-1 filing, the net income for the full year of 2024 is $80 million, with a non-IFRS adjusted EBITDA of $52 million. However, in the first quarter of 2025, a net loss of $349 million was recorded, mainly affected by the price fluctuations of digital assets and operational costs. Nevertheless, the adjusted net income remains at $2 million, indicating stable profitability in the core business.

Preliminary estimates for the second quarter show total revenue between $60 million and $62 million, with adjusted EBITDA at $10 million to $14 million, and net income ranging from -$2 million to $6 million. The revenue sources are diverse, including transaction fees, spreads, licensing fees, and advertising, with adjusted trading revenue expected to be $56 million to $58 million in the second quarter of 2025.

Holding $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets

In May 2021, Block.one launched Bullish Global and injected it with $1 billion in funding, including $100 million in cash, 164,000 bitcoins (worth approximately $9.7 billion at the time), and 20 million EOS tokens. External investors also added $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 the president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and has extensive experience in traditional financial markets, excelling in the development of institutional trading platforms. David Bonanno is now the Chief Financial Officer of Bullish, having previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Far Peak Acquisition Corp, playing a key role in capital allocation, business strategy, and critical partnerships. Additionally, Chief Operating Officer 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) discloses that Bullish plans to convert over 50% of the funds raised from the IPO into US dollar stablecoins to enhance liquidity and hedge against volatility in the crypto market.

In the first quarter of 2025, the Bullish platform's Bitcoin trading volume reached $108.6 billion, a 36% increase compared to $80.082 billion during the same period last year. The daily trading volume of Bitcoin is $1.207 billion, which is a 37% increase from $880 million in the same period last year.

The prospectus shows that Bullish's digital asset sales in 2022, 2023, and 2024 are $72.89 billion, $116.49 billion, and $250.2 billion, respectively; net profits are -$4.246 billion, $1.3 billion, and $79.56 million, respectively.

As of August 2025, the company stated in a filing submitted on Monday that it currently holds over $3 billion in liquid assets, which include: 24,000 Bitcoins; 12,600 ETH; $418 million in cash and stablecoins. By the end of the second quarter, liquid assets are estimated to increase 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, making it one of the largest ICOs in crypto history, to develop the EOS platform.

The EOS tokens have long been handed over to investors, and the continuous cash flow and income are used to purchase Bitcoin and Ethereum. Just this investment alone has made Bullish a fortune.

EOS has not thrived as everyone hoped, and whether the exchange Bullish, created by block.one, can truly succeed remains a question mark.