CoinDesk owner Bullish prices IPO above range to raise over $1.1 billion
The offering raised $1.11 billion for Bullish, based on 30 million shares sold, valuing the company at $5.41 billion.
Bullish was earlier aiming to price its offering between $32 and $33 per share.
The share sale comes as IPOs are bouncing back following a dry spell for U.S. equity capital markets that lasted for more than two years.
Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet (CRCL.N), opens new tab upsized its initial IPO in early June on strong investor demand and its shares have increased more than 400% since then. Shares of design software maker Figma (FIG.N), opens new tab surged 250% in its market debut just over two weeks ago.
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28 minutes ago
- Reuters
Crypto exchange Bullish's shares set to more than double in debut
Aug 13 (Reuters) - Bullish's (BLSH.N), opens new tab shares were indicated to open at more than double their initial public offering price on Wednesday, signaling growing investor confidence in the sector and boosting prospects for future U.S. listings by other digital asset firms. If the Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange starts to trade at the last indicated range of $85 to $88 on the NYSE, it could potentially value the company at more than $12.86 billion. The parent of crypto news website CoinDesk raised $1.11 billion in an IPO priced at $37 apiece, valuing it at $5.4 billion, as mainstream crypto adoption accelerates in a sector that recently surpassed $4 trillion in value. "Bullish came out with an attractive initial valuation, and investors responded by aggressively bidding it up during the pre-IPO process," said Jeff Zell, senior research analyst at IPO Boutique. A string of regulatory wins under a pro-crypto White House, corporate treasury adoption, and ETF inflows have prompted investors to embrace the once-scorned digital asset class, driving bellwether bitcoin to record highs. Exchange operator Gemini and asset manager Grayscale are also among the crypto firms that have confidentially filed to go public. "We've gone public today, and there's a slew of others that are going to follow us, and I think that is net beneficial, because it gives people more options in terms of how they access this asset class," Bullish President Chris Tyrer told Reuters in an interview. Bullish is close to concluding a two-year process to obtain a virtual currency license known as a "BitLicense" in New York, which would allow the company to operate in the state, Tyrer said. The BitLicense requires companies to comply with requirements related to know-your-customer, anti-money laundering and capital. Bullish plans to convert a significant portion of the IPO proceeds to stablecoins — a slice of the crypto space that has boomed since U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Genius Act, creating a regulatory regime for the dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies. Bullish's debut marks a rare U.S. listing by a crypto exchange, joining larger retail-focused rival Coinbase (COIN.O), opens new tab, which became the first crypto player to be included in the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab index in May. Founded in 2020, Bullish targets institutional clients, whose crypto holdings are expected to rise as a new White House order aims to allow alternative investments in 401(k) retirement plans. "A pure institutional strategy positions Bullish for more stable, recurring revenue than exchanges reliant on retail volumes, which tend to be cyclical and sentiment-driven," said Michael Hall, co-chief investment officer and founding partner at Nickel Digital Asset Management. Bullish CEO Tom Farley was previously the president of NYSE. "For a sector still overcoming reputational headwinds, that kind of leadership experience can be a differentiator in securing institutional mandates," Hall said.
Reuters
30 minutes ago
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New York sues Zelle, says security lapses led to $1 billion consumer fraud losses
NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Zelle was sued on Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said the electronic payment platform's refusal to adopt critical safety features enabled fraudsters to steal more than $1 billion from consumers. The lawsuit in a New York state court in Manhattan followed the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision in March to drop a similar case. That agency has ended most enforcement activity following U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the White House. Zelle was launched in 2017, and competes with apps such as PayPal's (PYPL.O), opens new tab Venmo and Block's (XYZ.N), opens new tab Cash App. Its parent, Early Warning Services, is owned by seven large U.S. banks: Bank of America (BAC.N), opens new tab, Capital One (COF.N), opens new tab, JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab, PNC (PNC.N), opens new tab, Truist (TFC.N), opens new tab, US Bank (USB.N), opens new tab and Wells Fargo (WFC.N), opens new tab. James said Zelle's parent and the banks knew for years that the platform was vulnerable to fraudsters but resisted basic safeguards, with the banks sometimes ignoring customer complaints while Zelle let fraudsters stay on the platform. The result was "rampant" fraud that Zelle sometimes refused to address even after it occurred, despite its assurances it was a safe alternative to cash and checks and "backed by the banks, so you know it's secure," the complaint said. In a statement, Zelle said more than 99.95% of transactions on its platform are completed without reported fraud, leading the industry. "This lawsuit is a political stunt to generate press, not progress," Zelle said. "The Attorney General should focus on the hard facts, stopping criminal activity and adherence to the law, not overreach and meritless claims.' Early Warning Services is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The seven banks were not named as defendants. James said typical scams involved hacking into users' accounts and making unauthorized transfers, convincing users to send money for nonexistent goods and services, and impersonating banks, government offices and utilities. According to the complaint, one victim was told his electricity would be shut off unless he paid Con Edison $1,477 via Zelle, to an account named "Coned Billing." Another victim said Chase and Zelle wouldn't help him after he sent $2,600 in two installments via Zelle to buy a puppy, and realized he had been scammed when the purported seller demanded more money. James said it wasn't until 2023, after the CFPB and several members of Congress began probes, that Zelle adopted "basic" safeguards it had proposed four years earlier. While reported fraud losses plummeted, the safeguards were "too little too late" for consumers who had lost money, and despite those safeguards Zelle still facilitates "substantial fraudulent activity," the complaint said. "No one should be left to fend for themselves after falling victim to a scam," James said in a statement. The lawsuit seeks to require Zelle to beef up anti-fraud protections, and pay restitution and damages to defrauded New Yorkers. James sued Capital One in May for allegedly cheating savings depositors out of millions of dollars in interest, and in June settled claims against MoneyGram over remittance transfer lapses. The CFPB abandoned similar cases earlier in the year.
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30 minutes ago
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S&P 500, Nasdaq hover near record highs on September rate cut hopes
Aug 13 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hovered near record highs on Wednesday as investors were increasingly confident that the Federal Reserve could restart its monetary policy easing cycle next month. Signs that U.S. tariffs on imports have not fully filtered into headline consumer prices came as a relief for investors this week as they scour for insights on the impact trade uncertainty has had on the economy. Despite data showing underlying price pressures were on the rise, markets also factored in recent weakness in the job market and a shake-up at the Federal Reserve as they leaned in favor of a potential dovish move by the central bank in September. Traders are now fully pricing in a 25 basis points interest rate cut, according to the CME's FedWatch Tool, up from 89.2% last week. The central bank last lowered borrowing costs in December. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said he thought an aggressive half-point cut was possible given recent weak employment numbers. Stagflation "was the first word that came to my mind when I saw this CPI report yesterday," said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide, referring to Tuesday's data coming on the heels of a number of other reports pointing to a cooling economy. "The slowdown that we're seeing is probably fairly temporary, at least at this point. So inflation is something that we're absolutely worried about because we saw that uptick." At 12:18 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 363.26 points, or 0.82%, to 44,821.52, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab gained 9.34 points, or 0.15%, to 6,455.15 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab advanced 15.77 points, or 0.07%, to 21,697.97. The blue-chip Dow (.DJI), opens new tab was within 1% away from an all-time high and the Russell 2000 index (.RUT), opens new tab, which tracks rate-sensitive small-cap companies, added 0.1.3% to hit a six-month high. Investors were also taking notice of other sectors following the recent tech-led rally in U.S. stocks that have pushed valuations of the S&P 500 above long-term averages. Healthcare stocks (.SPXHC), opens new tab, which have been beaten down for much of the year, led gains among the 11 S&P 500 sectors with a 1.4% rise, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index (.NDX), opens new tab was marginally lower. Later in the day, investors will scrutinize remarks of a number of policymakers, especially Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee. CoreWeave (CRWV.O), opens new tab, which is backed by Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, slumped 17.6% after the AI data center operator reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly net loss. Eyes are also on developments surrounding the China revenue-sharing deal the U.S. government signed with top chipmakers, which the White House said could be expanded to others in the sector. Paramount Skydance (PSKY.O), opens new tab jumped 30%. The company won exclusive broadcasting rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for seven years earlier this week. In geopolitics, traders also were keen on a meeting between Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine conflict scheduled on Friday. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.96-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.28-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 131 new highs and 49 new lows.
