Another centralized exchange (CEX) has secretly filed for an IPO. While Bullish may not be the most familiar name in crypto, its pedigree is undeniably elite.
By: Jaleel Jialiu, Peggy

Circle, the issuer of USDC, successfully went public on the stock market, soaring 168% on its first day and raising $1.1 billion, becoming the first stablecoin company to list. Gemini followed closely with its IPO filing. Meanwhile, Bullish, a lesser-known trading platform, was revealed by media to have secretly submitted its IPO application to the SEC.

In the lucrative CEX arena, Bullish isn’t a household name, but its origins are anything but ordinary.

In 2018, EOS burst onto the scene, hailed as the "Ethereum killer." Its parent company, Block.one, capitalized on the hype to conduct the longest and largest ICO in history, raising a staggering $4.2 billion.

Years later, as EOS faded, Block.one pivoted, launching Bullish—a compliant crypto exchange targeting traditional finance. This move effectively exiled Block.one from the EOS community.

Bullish officially launched in July 2021 with an initial war chest of $100 million in cash, 164,000 BTC (then worth ~$9.7 billion), and 20 million EOS from Block.one, plus an additional $300 million from external investors like PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, hedge fund titan Alan Howard, and crypto mogul Mike Novogratz.

With total assets exceeding $10 billion at launch, Bullish entered the game in grand style.

Bullish’s mission was clear from the start: scale matters less than compliance.

Its ultimate goal wasn’t to maximize crypto profits but to become a "publicly listed" exchange. Before even launching, Bullish struck a deal with Far Peak Acquisition Corp, investing $840 million for a 9% stake and merging in a $2.5 billion deal to bypass traditional IPO hurdles.

At the time, Bullish was valued at $9 billion. Far Peak’s former CEO, Thomas Farley—now Bullish’s CEO—brought heavyweight compliance credentials: ex-President of the NYSE, deep Wall Street connections, and regulatory clout.

Notably, Bullish’s investments under Farley have been selective but high-profile: Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon, restaking protocol ether.fi, and crypto media giant CoinDesk.

In short, Bullish is the exchange most determined to become "Wall Street’s crypto arm."

But reality bit hard. Regulatory pushback in the U.S. forced Bullish to abandon its merger plan in 2022, scrapping an 18-month listing timeline. A potential FTX acquisition for rapid expansion also fell through. Bullish pivoted to Asia and Europe instead.

This year, Bullish secured Hong Kong’s Type 1 (securities trading) and Type 7 (automated trading) licenses, plus a virtual asset trading platform permit. It also obtained crypto custody and trading approval from Germany’s BaFin.

With ~260 employees globally—over half based in Hong Kong—Bullish’s compliance-first stance is further evident in its stablecoin preferences.

While USDT dominates the market, Bullish’s top trading pairs are all USDC-backed. This reflects a deliberate regulatory alignment: USDC, issued by publicly traded Circle, enjoys SEC favor, while USDT faces mounting scrutiny.

Kaiko reports USDC’s CEX trading volume hit $38 billion in March 2024—far above 2023’s $8 billion monthly average. Bullish and Bybit now command ~60% of USDC’s market share.

If Bullish and EOS were a couple, they’d be the ex who stole the family fortune.

News of Bullish’s IPO filing briefly pumped EOS’s successor token, "A," by 17%. But the community’s resentment runs deep. After raising $4.2 billion for EOS, Block.one abandoned it to build Bullish—a platform with zero EOS integration.

In 2017, EOS promised "1 million TPS, zero fees," luring investors worldwide. But post-launch, users found a clunky system requiring CPU/RAM staking and plagued by governance failures (e.g., vote-buying by whales).

The real killer? Block.one’s broken promises. Only a fraction of its pledged $1 billion ecosystem fund materialized. Instead, it hoarded $2.2 billion in U.S. bonds, 164,000 BTC, and squandered cash on failed ventures like Voice.

By 2021, Block.one unveiled Bullish with $10 billion in backing—funded partly by EOS’s ICO haul. The community revolted, forking EOS and ousting Block.one via legal battles. In 2025, EOS rebranded as Vaulta, pivoting to Web3 banking.

To the EOS faithful, Bullish isn’t a success story—it’s a $16 billion betrayal.

Block.one’s $4.2 billion ICO could have built a blockchain empire. Instead, it built a treasury.

A 2019 email from EOS creator Dan Larimer ("BM") revealed Block.one’s asset breakdown:

• $2.2 billion in U.S. Treasuries (low-risk, liquid)

• 164,000 BTC (now worth ~$17.5 billion—a 4.18x return on ICO proceeds)

• Misc. bets like Silvergate stock and Voice domains

Today, Block.one is the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, surpassing even Tether. Its BTC stash alone has netted ~$13 billion in unrealized gains.

The irony? In crypto, the biggest winners aren’t always the innovators—just the best at playing the long game. Block.one didn’t build the future; it bought it.