Bullish Exchange Completes $1.15 Billion IPO With Stablecoins

Bullish just made crypto history by completing a $1.15 billion IPO entirely using stablecoins. It announced a $1.11 billion deal last week, so it seems like there was zero fiat currency involved in this payment.

A full list of assets includes USDC, RLUSD, PYUSD, USD1, EURC, USDCV, EURCV, USDG, AUSD, and EURAU. Tether’s USDT, the world’s most popular stablecoin, is apparently absent from this transaction.

Bullish Makes Stablecoin History

Bullish, a centralized exchange based in the Cayman Islands, has been a prominent business for several years. It attempted a merger in 2022, but this fell through, and its efforts to go public remained dormant for a few years.

Today, however, Bullish completed a $1.15 billion IPO, and it conducted the transaction entirely in stablecoins:

Last week, Bullish announced that its IPO reached $1.11 billion, so this stablecoin transaction is $40 million higher than that. By all appearances, then, the firm is accepting this monumental sum entirely in stablecoins.

This is a milestone in crypto history, especially considering the outstanding legal questions about this market sector. Coinbase, a prominent American exchange, is custodying all the stablecoins from the transaction.

“Bullish’s innovative use of stablecoins in their IPO marks a significant milestone for the digital asset ecosystem. This achievement underscores the transformative potential of stablecoins. With evolving regulatory clarity… leading businesses like Bullish are better positioned to unlock the full potential of crypto,” claimed Greg Tusar, Coinbase’s VP of Institutional Product.

Unorthodox Asset Portfolios

Still, one detail stands out as particularly odd. Bullish accepted the transaction with nine different stablecoins, but Tether’s USDT was not present.

The majority of the proceeds were in Circle’s USDC, but Ripple’s RLUSD, Paxos’ PYUSD, and even World Liberty Financial’s USD1 made the cut.

It’s still unclear why Bullish or its investors made this choice. The firm’s stock now trades on the NYSE, and it’s having Coinbase custody the assets, so Bullish might be seeking deeper US integration. Tether’s unclear regulatory status under the GENIUS Act might make it a poor choice for this goal.

Still, that’s not truly satisfying either. Tether has strong relationships with the current government, and some of the other IPO assets are in an equally ambiguous position. At the moment, we simply don’t know why Bullish is using these stablecoins.

In any event, though, this is a historic moment. Bullish is the first company to complete a billion-dollar IPO entirely in stablecoins, but it likely won’t be the last.