In mid-August 2025, Bullish, a crypto exchange backed by Peter Thiel, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange. A few moments after listing, Bullish stock (BLSH) jumped from the listing price of $37 to an all-time peak of $118. This stock ended the day trading at $68, which represents a gain of 83% merely hours after listing.
While the original valuation of the company at listing was just about $5.6 billion, the numbers quickly surged to hit new peaks at $10 billion by the end of the day. In this IPO, Bullish sold about 30 million shares, only 19.9% of the total number of shares.
At the center of this IPO was Tom Farley, a man who served as the president of the New York Stock Exchange. Tom Farley commented on Bullish going public with a clear message that Institutions will be the new wave of crypto revolution. Tom Farley said:
"The last leg of growth in crypto, the last 10 years, was basically all retail. And if you look now, the institutional (crypto) wave has begun... It's a question of how big it will be."
But who is this Tom Farley?
From Wall Street to Web3
Born in 1975 in New York, Tom Farley's career started in the TradFi space. Farley's career peaked when he served as the president of NYSE Euronext and the NYSE itself between 2014 and 2018. After his tenure at NYSE, Farley set his eyes on crypto, intending to take over Bullish, a crypto company. In a $9 billion deal, SPAC, then headed by Farley, would merge with Bullish, with the former Wall Street head becoming the CEO of the crypto firm post-merge.
In a past interview on CNBC's Squawk Box, Farley’s determination to bridge institutional finance and blockchain infrastructure became clear. Farley said:
"This is a big idea whose time has come… Digital assets are here to stay. The smartest engineering talent is going into digital assets; digital assets are solving very important problems. Anybody who tells you they know exactly how it's going to turn out is lying or delusional, but in general, you're going to see more and more interesting use cases, more and more dollars go into the space."
Now, in 2025, a long-awaited Bullish IPO and takeover happened. While giving another interview on CNBC's Squawk on the Street, Farley made it clear that institutions will spearhead the next chapter in crypto. For Bullish, the IPO sent a message to institutions and an offering to the public.
Why NYSE and NOT NASDAQ?
When asked if there was a contest between NASDAQ and NYSE for listing the Bullish Stock (BLSH), Farley said, No. He decided to list where he once called home.
The ex-NYSE boss painted a picture of how returning to the NYSE was a homecoming moment. The return to a familiar environment, at post 9, with security guards, Courtney, the photographer, was a proud moment.
Moreover, Farlley spoke of meeting old colleagues and former NYSE leaders like Stacy Cunningham and Lynn Martin. By making a return in one of the largest global markets, Farley sent a signal that institutions are fast stepping into crypto.
Bullish's Business Model and Institutional Differentiation
Though what is the business model of Bullish? Is it similar to Coinbase or Binance? The answer is a straight no! The ex-NYSE head spoke of the business model of Bullish, which consists of an exchange, data, and media infrastructure. In November 2023, the crypto exchange completed the acquisition of popular crypto news platform Coindesk.
This model works to serve its over 1000 institutional clients. And it's when commenting about this business model that Farley said the "institutional (crypto) wave has begun." Farley also mentioned the Genius Act and the Clarity Act as primary catalysts for unlocking institutional capital.
The Enormous Growth Opportunity in True Tokenization
While distinguishing between the already seen tokenization and what he believes is coming, Farley said the opportunity is "absolutely gigantic." He believes that the tokenization so far is essentially a repackaging of already existing assets. His words: "You create a token that's sort of a contractual right to what already exists."
However, Farley says the Clarity Act is the primary cause of the contrast with the upcoming tokenization. Under the Clarity Act, as long as a blockchain network is trustworthy and secure, regulators could approve the issuance of stock, your treasury, and the title to your house, all on a public blockchain.
The Bullish head even cited the post-IPO performance of Coinbase Global, whose stock surged 11x-12x. In his words, if public blockchains meet the technical, regulatory, and security standards, more institutional players could move in.
Pragmatic Perspective on Tokenization Adoption
Albeit the euphoria surrounding asset tokenization, Farley maintains a more pragmatic take. Tokenization will happen "slowly, slowly, slowly but suddenly", Farley said. He recounts a meeting with investors and TradFi CEOs that changed his perspective about them.
He also talked about watchdogs becoming positive. In fact, Farley quoted SEC leadership saying, "crypto and America share one thing in common, freedom. "crypto and America share one thing in common, freedom." The regulator is looking to promote crypto and blockchain tech for its many perks. But still, tokenization is not happening overnight, according to Farley.
Current State of Regulations and Technology
The evolution of the US regulatory environment, while bringing improvements, is still young. Yes, the world watched as America passed two critical regulations, the Genius and Clarity Acts.
But, Farley believes other US watchdogs like the SEC, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are all still behind in introducing crypto regulations.
There is much progress outside the US, with the European region introducing the Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation (MiCA) and Hong Kong also bringing a more complete framework.
IPO Innovations and Retail Participation
While Bullish is mainly centered on Institutional participants, it keeps a keen eye on retail investors. The IPO allocated 6 million shares to the retail market. Farley commented on the same, saying the retail investors are "under-invested, underestimated in sophistication" and can still be "marginal price setters."
What This Means For Financial Markets
The IPO of Bullish exchange is a statement to financial markets: a new regime is here. For years, retail speculators and grassroots adoption were the primary themes of cryptocurrency. However, with Bullish, institutions now get the chance to define the future of cryptocurrency.
BLSH’s demand on day one of trading, and the leadership of ex-NYSE president, all point to the same conclusion: institutions will drive the next wave of crypto growth. And this matters because with institutions on board, crypto gains scalability, liquidity, compliance, and clarity around compliance.
For other industry stakeholders, investors, builders, and policymakers, the IPO signals that tokenization is a competitive race.
With tokenization gaining ground and acceptance from TradFi institutions, it will be a good move for companies and individuals to position themselves for the opportunities it offers. To position, knowing how tokenization and Web3 work is key, and uCubed will help with that. uCubed is a platform created to impact businesses, individuals, and institutional investors with the knowledge and understanding of how tokenization and Web3 work. Learn more about the future of finance today through uCubed.
