Crypto exchange Bullish, unveiled in May as a subsidiary of Block.one, to go public via a SPAC merger at a $9B valuation
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. — Crypto exchange Bullish is set for a public listing through a merger with the special purpose acquisition company led …
Context & Ripple Effects
Bullish arrived fast: Block.one unveiled the exchange in May with roughly $10B of digital assets and cash behind it, and within two months it had both a SPAC merger agreement pricing it at $9B and fresh strategic capital — $75M from SoftBank's SB Northstar landed just days after the listing plan went public. For a company whose parent paid $24M to settle SEC charges over an unregistered token sale, a regulated US listing is also a legitimacy play.
What makes this worth tracking is how the arc resolved: the 2021 SPAC deal never closed. Four years later Bullish took the conventional route, raising $1.1B in an NYSE IPO at a $5.4B implied valuation — below the $9B headline this deal announced.
First-order effects
- Bullish gains public-market currency and disclosure obligations ahead of its planned launch, while anchor investors like SoftBank's SB Northstar get a marked-to-market stake well before trading begins.
- Block.one converts part of the ~$10B digital-asset treasury it capitalized Bullish with into equity in a vehicle headed for NYSE-style public scrutiny.
Second-order effects
- A successful listing would hand rival crypto exchanges a template for going public without a traditional IPO roadshow, accelerating copycat SPAC filings across the sector.
- SoftBank's early check signals strategic investors are willing to price crypto infrastructure ahead of revenue proof, tightening the pool of late-stage capital for exchanges still privately held.
Third-order effects
- As it played out, the SPAC path proved a false start: Bullish ultimately reached the public markets through a conventional IPO at a materially lower valuation than this deal's $9B headline — a data point in the broader reset of 2021-vintage crypto marks.
- Exchanges built on ICO-era fortunes are converging on full US registration and disclosure to close the trust gap regulators flagged in cases like Block.one's own settlement — trading compliance for access to mainstream capital.
The trend: Crypto exchanges are migrating from private, token-funded structures toward fully registered US listings, with the SPAC boom of 2021 serving as the overvalued first draft of that transition.