The wait is finally over. If you've been tracking the saga of the Bullish exchange, you know it's been a long, weird road. Honestly, for a while there, it felt like the "Bullish IPO" was the financial equivalent of a mirage. One minute it was a $9 billion SPAC deal with Far Peak Acquisition, and the next, it was dead in the water thanks to the SEC's hawk-eyed scrutiny of digital asset frameworks.
But fast forward to right now, January 2026. The landscape has shifted. The noise has settled. And the answer to when will bullish ipo start trading isn't a vague "someday" anymore—it’s a matter of days.
The NYSE Debut: When Does the Ticker Actually Go Live?
Bullish is officially hitting the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BLSH. After pricing its upsized offering, the exchange is set to begin trading on Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
If you're reading this on the morning of the 14th, the opening bell is basically the starting pistol.
The road here was surprisingly aggressive. Just a few days ago, on January 12, the company stopped taking orders for its IPO. They priced the shares late Tuesday at $37 per share, which was a healthy jump from the initial expected ranges.
What’s wild is how they settled the deal. Bullish decided to settle its $1.15 billion IPO using stablecoins, mostly USDC and EURC on the Solana network. It’s the first time we’ve seen a major U.S. IPO handled this way. It’s sort of a "practice what you preach" moment for a crypto exchange, right?
Why the Delay Lasted for Years
You might remember the original hype back in 2021. Brendan Blumer and Thomas Farley (the former NYSE president) were all over the news with a massive SPAC merger. Then... silence. The deal was scrapped in December 2022.
The SEC basically wouldn't blink. They wanted more clarity on how crypto exchanges accounted for customer assets and how they disclosed risks. Bullish didn't just give up; they went the traditional S-1 filing route. It took longer, sure, but it resulted in a much cleaner entry into the public markets.
By the time they refiled in 2025, the market was different. We had Bitcoin ETFs, a friendlier regulatory vibe in D.C., and a massive institutional appetite for regulated "clean" crypto plays.
Who is Backing This Thing?
This isn't just another retail-focused app. Bullish has some heavy hitters in its corner:
- Peter Thiel: The billionaire co-founder of PayPal and Palantir.
- BlackRock: They expressed interest in a $200 million chunk of the offering.
- ARK Invest: Cathie Wood has been vocal about the need for institutional-grade liquidity, and ARK was part of the indicated interest for the IPO.
The Bullish Strategy: Why Now?
The timing for the when will bullish ipo start trading question isn't accidental. Bitcoin has been hovering in the $90,000 range this month, and the "Trump-Powell" conflict—as the headlines call it—has created a weirdly perfect storm for non-sovereign assets.
Bullish focuses on institutional traders. They aren't trying to be the "fun" app for your cousin to buy Dogecoin. They use an automated market maker (AMM) model to provide deep liquidity. Basically, they want to be the infrastructure that the big banks use when they finally decide to go all-in on digital assets.
With Kraken also eyeing a listing in Q1 2026 and Circle (the USDC people) on the horizon, Bullish is essentially trying to claim the "institutional gold standard" title before the market gets too crowded.
What to Watch for in the First 48 Hours
When a crypto-adjacent stock hits the NYSE, things get volatile. Fast.
📖 Related: Global Markets News Today October 12 2025: Why Investors are Panicking (Simply)
- The Pop: Initial reports from the debut show the stock "popping" significantly—some early trades saw it up over 80% from the $37 IPO price.
- Solana Connection: Since they used Solana for the settlement, keep an eye on SOL's price. Investors often trade these things as a "pair" in their heads, even if they aren't strictly linked.
- Institutional Volume: Watch the volume on the Bullish exchange itself. If the IPO brings more big-money clients to the platform, the stock's valuation (which is already hovering around $10-$11 billion) could see a fast upward revision.
Honestly, the fact that we’re even seeing this trade today is a testament to how much the regulatory environment has thawed. A few years ago, the SEC was treating crypto like a toxic spill. Now, they're letting $1.15 billion deals settle on-chain.
Actionable Steps for Investors
If you’re looking to get exposure to the Bullish IPO now that it’s trading, here is the move:
- Check the Ticker: Look for BLSH on your brokerage app. If you're a retail investor, you missed the $37 "pre-trading" price, so you'll be buying at market rates.
- Watch the Lock-up: Like most IPOs, early investors and employees usually have a lock-up period (often 180 days). Be ready for potential sell-pressure when that window opens later this summer.
- Monitor the Stablecoin Metrics: Since Bullish is betting the farm on stablecoin adoption and RWA (Real World Assets) tokenization, track the total value locked (TVL) on their exchange through sites like DeFiLlama or their own monthly metrics reports.
The IPO market is back, and Bullish is leading the charge for the crypto sector in 2026. Keep your eyes on the volume today; it’s going to be a wild ride.