Ethereum became the fastest asset to reach $500B market cap in history

All’s to say: Where Bullish’s stock price goes from here is anyone’s guess. 

Led by former NYSE president Tom Farley, Bullish launched in 2021 with backing from Block.one, Thiel Capital, Galaxy Digital, Nomura and others. It offers a spot and derivatives exchange, as well as liquidity services; Bullish also owns crypto media company CoinDesk.

As of March 31, Bullish held $1.7 billion worth of bitcoin, $144 million of US dollar stablecoins, $28 million in cash and $55 million of ether and other digital assets.

The company’s roughly $1.8 billion in cash and crypto makes it one of the most well-financed companies in the space, noted Architect Partners VP Ryan McCulloch.

“By buying this stock, you are heavily invested in their future potential to invest this cash,” he told Blockworks.

McCulloch labeled Amber Group and OSL Group as the most similar public companies to Bullish, given that they are Asia-focused exchanges offering a similar suite of services. 

But Amber Group and OSL Group are trading at enterprise values around $600 million and $1.4 billion, respectively — significantly lower than the roughly $13 billion valuation Bullish went public with,  he explained.

“They get significantly more public exposure via the media business, which likely serves as free lead generation for the trading business and vice versa,” McCulloch said. “This is far different than any others and seems to provide a unique market positioning.”

Matthew Sigel, who manages the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE), also noted Bullish’s sizable bitcoin treasury — enabling tighter spreads and “competitive positioning” in both spot and derivatives markets. 

“These capabilities can compound across trading, data and index businesses,” Sigel added. “In a bull scenario based on our internal modeling, there is a path to $600 million in revenue and $200 million in EBITDA.”

More crypto company IPOs are expected in the coming months, as Gemini, Grayscale, BitGo and Figure Technology have confidentially filed draft registration statements with the SEC.