Bullish (BLSH)

Bullish reported second-quarter 2026 digital asset sales of $32.6 billion and a net loss of $280.0 million on 13 August 2026 1.

Digital asset sales are the gross proceeds of coins the company sells as principal, mostly to fill customer trades, so the line is far larger than the fees the company keeps 4.

The loss came mostly from marking its own crypto holdings down: the change in fair value of digital assets held was a loss of $244.6 million for the quarter 1. Adjusted revenue, a measure that leaves such swings out, was $92.6 million, up 62 percent from a year earlier 1.

On 28 October 2026 the company said it will report third-quarter results on 18 November 2026 2. Its agreed $4.2 billion purchase of the transfer agent Equiniti, meant to give it a tokenized-shares business, is expected to close in early 2027 61.

Monthly figures show total trading volume on its exchange of $48.6 billion in September 2026, up from $42.5 billion in August 3.

Bullish says it was founded in 2020 to build an institutional-grade global exchange, and it was incorporated in the Cayman Islands on 22 June 2021 74. Its exchange first launched in 2021, when digital asset services were largely unregulated 4.

The group grew up beside block.one, the company co-founded by Brendan Blumer, which settled with the SEC in 2019 over a token sale made between June 2017 and June 2018 74. Block.one moved its Bullish shares to Blumer's Buttonwood Investments 1 in February 2025 7.

Bullish became the parent of the group after a reorganization in April 2023 4. In November 2023 it bought the CoinDesk businesses, a news, events and data group, and in October 2024 it bought CCData, a benchmark administrator regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority 47.

Revenue as filed is the gross sales of coins: $116.5 billion in 2023, $250.2 billion in 2024 and $244.8 billion in 2025 4. The 2024 jump came from higher spot trading volume, which rose as digital asset prices appreciated and market share grew 4.

Sales fell 2 percent in 2025, which the filing ties to spot trading volume and the average trading spread, both hit by market volatility 4. Gross sales say little about earnings, because almost all of that money goes straight back out as the cost of the coins 4.

Net income swung from $1,300.0 million in 2023 to $79.6 million in 2024 and a loss of $785.5 million in 2025 4. The change in fair value of digital assets held was a gain of $1,351.8 million in 2023 and a loss of $675.0 million in 2025 4.

The 2025 figure included $497.4 million of impairment on coins held as intangible assets, which the filing links to broad digital price depreciation during the year 4.

Fees outside trading grew: subscription and services revenue rose from $14.9 million in 2023 to $59.8 million in 2024 and $155.5 million in 2025 4. The filing credits liquidity services incentives and growth across all CoinDesk revenue streams 4.

Bullish listed on the NYSE in August 2025 with an offering of 30,000,000 ordinary shares 74. In 2025 it also launched crypto options in the third quarter and US spot trading in the fourth, and in December 2025 it registered with the SEC as a transfer agent 4.

The first half of 2026 brought a net loss of $884.8 million 1. On 4 May 2026 Bullish signed the agreement to buy Equiniti, and in May 2026 it became the first NYSE-listed company to put its own shares on-chain on Solana 65.

Bullish Exchange

The exchange is an institutional spot and derivatives marketplace with one global order book and automated market making, which the company says gives deep and predictable liquidity 4. It earns money from volumes, spreads and transaction fees 4.

Spot volume was $42.2 billion in September 2026 and perpetual futures volume $2.3 billion 3. The average trading spread, the commission kept per dollar traded, was 2.14 basis points, where one basis point is a hundredth of a percent 3.

Bullish said its options volume reached $11.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, with 14 percent of open interest in April 2026 8. It called itself the number two exchange for bitcoin options 8.

It holds a New York BitLicense, German licences for crypto custody and for the EU's MiCAR rules, Hong Kong licences and a Gibraltar licence for distributed ledger technology 4. Its filing names Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and the decentralized platform Hyperliquid as rivals 4.

Liquidity services

Liquidity services is a subscription product: Bullish provides market depth for a partner's coin through its automated market making, lists it and promotes it through CoinDesk 4. Customers include blockchain foundations, stablecoin issuers and protocol developers 4.

Subscription and services revenue was $117.5 million in the first half of 2026, against $51.6 million a year earlier 1. The chief financial officer called the second quarter's $62.7 million a record 1.

CoinDesk Indices, Data and Insights

CoinDesk Indices licenses benchmarks such as the CoinDesk 20 Index and the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, and earns fees based on the assets in products that track them 4. Morgan Stanley launched bitcoin, ether and Solana exchange traded products on its benchmarks, which drew more than $400 million of inflows in the second quarter 1.

CoinDesk Data sells market data and analytics, with over 10 years of data and coverage of more than 270 thousand trading pairs 4. Competitors include CF Benchmarks and Kaiko, and large providers such as Bloomberg and S&P Global 4.

CoinDesk Insights runs the news site coindesk.com and the Consensus conferences, earning from advertising, research subscriptions, tickets and sponsors 4. The Hong Kong and Miami events together drew 26,000+ attendees 1.

Tokenized securities

On 12 August 2026 market participants traded tokenized BLSH shares on Bullish Exchange, settled in a dollar stablecoin, which the company said was a first on a Gibraltar-regulated exchange 5. The tokens are recorded at the share registry, giving holders direct share ownership 5.

Equiniti, the transfer agent Bullish has agreed to buy, serves nearly 3,000 issuer clients and more than 20 million shareholders worldwide 5. Wintermute provided liquidity at launch 5.

People and offices

Tom Farley is chief executive and chairman, and the filing notes he was president of Intercontinental Exchange and chief operating officer of NYSE Group 4. David Bonanno is chief financial officer, and co-founder Brendan Blumer is a director 4.

Bullish had about 414 personnel at the end of 2025, over 200 of them in technology, security and operations 4. Its principal office is in Camana Bay, George Town, Grand Cayman 4.

Current problems

The company reported a net loss in each of the first two quarters of 2026 as the value of its crypto holdings fell 18. The Equiniti deal still needs regulatory approvals 6.

Its prospectus warned that block.one's 2019 SEC settlement may adversely affect its ability to obtain licenses or approvals in the future 7.

The umbrella, in words

Bullish sells under two brands: Bullish, for market infrastructure, and CoinDesk, for information services 4. The Bullish Exchange is run by subsidiaries including Bullish US Operations LLC, Bullish Europe GmbH and Bullish HK Markets Limited 4.

CoinDesk, Inc. operates the media business, while CoinDesk Indices, Inc. and CC Data Limited operate indices and data 4. Bullish Capital Management holds its venture capital investments, and BTH does trading and liquidity services 4.

Two executives hold equity in BMC1, a group company, which they may exchange for ordinary shares: Farley for up to 5,213,528 and Bonanno for up to 1,861,976 4. Bullish agreed to buy Equiniti, a contract not yet closed 6.

On control, the annual report lists Brendan Blumer with 25.89 percent of the ordinary shares, Kokuei Yuan with 24.09 percent and EFM Asset Management with 11.56 percent as of 28 February 2026 4. Bullish says no other company, government or person owns or controls it 4.

Bullish said it will report third-quarter 2026 results on 18 November 2026 and hold a call the same day 2.

For the full year 2026 the company refined its guidance 1. It expects subscription, services and other revenue of $225.0 million to $245.0 million, adjusted operating expenses of $225.0 million to $230.0 million and finance expense of $52.0 million to $60.0 million 1.

The Equiniti purchase is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals 6. Either side may end the agreement if it has not closed by 4 February 2027, a date that can move to 4 May 2027 and then 4 August 2027 6.

The price is to be paid in newly issued Bullish ordinary shares worth $4.2 billion as adjusted, and an affiliate of the seller may buy certain non-core Equiniti assets for $100 million in cash 6.

Chief executive Tom Farley said that on close Bullish will assemble the complete offering for the issuance, listing, trading and tracking of issuer-sponsored tokens 1. The company said its tokenized listing sets a regulated template that will extend beyond its own shares 5.

Bullish said it filed for futures and options exchange and clearinghouse licenses to expand its derivatives offerings to the United States 8. In 2026 it also intends a full year of sales and onboarding in the United States and the European Union 4.

Bullish's August release on tokenized equity put the expected close of the Equiniti deal in January 2027, subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals 5. The May filing and the second-quarter release give the first quarter and early 2027 61.

The company says it aims to keep launching new products across its business on a regular basis and to enter new geographies with top-tier licenses 4. It also expects to publish monthly trading metrics after each month ends 3.

Past

Revenue rose in only 1 of 2 years, and the deepest fall was 2% from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025 Over the two fiscal years to 2025, the diluted share count grew about 2.2% a year, and dividends and buybacks returned about 90% of net income over three years Officers and directors filed 13 sales (11 under scheduled 10b5-1 plans) and 0 purchases of their own stock on the open market in the year to 2026-09-30 1

Present

In its latest annual figures on file, for the fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, Bullish reported revenue of $245 billion and a loss of $785 million Return on equity was negative 24%, meaning the company lost about 24 cents for every dollar of shareholders' money; gross profitability was 2 cents per dollar of everything the company owns; leverage was 17 cents per dollar of assets; and the share count grew 10.7% over the year Bullish's revenue of $245 billion in fiscal 2025 ranks in the top 1% by size among 114 names in its industry family; a net margin of negative 0.3% ranks in the top 32%; and revenue growth of 44.9% a year over the last 2 filed years ranks in the top 25% 21

Shareholders' equity or book value is $3.30 billion as of 2025-12-31 Book value per share is $25.82 on 128 million diluted average shares for fiscal 2025 The record of Bullish's people begins on 2026-03-18 (a listing, a merger or a first filing under the rules) and its chief executive and most of the people in charge have filed since then, so the record shows a floor of 7 months and cannot see past it 31

Future

The annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ending 2026-12-31 is due by 2027-04-30 Bullish's room to grow leaves cash of $88 million against no long-term debt tagged, which is 2.2% of its assets as net cash in the bottom 33% of its family; cash from operations less capital spending is 0% of revenue in the top 30%; and gross margin is 0% in the bottom 13% Revenue grew 44.9% a year over the last three filed years against 44.9% over all three, speeding up in the top 42% of its family; the newest year grew negative 2.2% in the bottom 32%; and capital spending grew 220.4% a year in the top 10% 41

How the company operates

Bullish is classed by the SEC under lending business under Finance Services Bullish tags no split of its revenue by line in the annual report on file, so growth by line cannot be read 21

New moves

Form 6-K interim report filed 2026-10-06 for the period ended 2026-10-31 A desk story from 2026-09-18 reports that the SEC has opened a five-year door to stocks on public blockchains: the order excuses a new kind of venue from registering as a stock exchange, and the firms that stock its pools from registering as dealers, on conditions that the token must carry the real share with its dividends and votes, the company can veto it, the code must be public, and the venue may list only a capped number of stocks. Bullish is adjacent to this event CoinDesk reported on 2026-10-06 that Peter Thiel-backed Founders Fund leads a $5 million token buy in crypto collateral protocol Anvil 456