Crypto exchange Bullish has taken the $1.15 billion in proceeds from its IPO entirely in stablecoins, which the company said is a first for US public markets.
Bullish Accepts its $1.15 Billion IPO Proceeds in Stablecoins
20 August 2025 - 10:24 CEST
The funds were received primarily in USDC, the stablecoin issued by Circle, Bullish said in a press release. A wide variety of other US-dollar and Euro-pegged stablecoins were also used for the transaction, including Circle’s EURC, PayPal’s PYUSD, Ripple’s RLUSD, and World Liberty Financial’s USD1, among others. The tokens were minted on the Solana network, with Coinbase serving as a custodian.
Stable & mainstream
The move marks a significant step for the increased use of stablecoins within the financial system. It “underscores the transformative potential of stablecoins in modernizing financial systems,” according to Greg Tusar, Coinbase’s VP of Institutional Product.
With legislation such as the GENIUS act bringing about more structured regulation, more and more financial actors are demonstrating interest in stablecoins, or even creating their own.
"We view stablecoins as one of the most transformative and widespread use cases for digital assets," said David Bonanno, Bullish CFO.
Solana network
Bullish chose to have the tokens minted on Solana.
Much of the stablecoin market is done on Ethereum which accounts for about $142 billion worth of stablecoins, or 51.75% of the global market cap, according to data from analytics firm DeFiLlama. Solana is a smaller network, with only $11.7 billion of stablecoins, but known for prioritizing speed of transactions.
"Bullish’s use of stablecoins in its IPO merges public market infrastructure with blockchain rails, and highlights Solana’s unique position to power a new era of market efficiency and innovation,” said Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation.
The exchange debuted last week under BLSH on the New York Stock Exchange, and sold 30 million shares at $37 in its IPO. The stock soared as high as $118 before slumping to trade at $59.51 at the close of trading on 19 August.
