Bullish, the cryptocurrency exchange backed by billionaire investor Peter Thiel, made a dramatic entrance onto the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with shares closing 83% higher on their first day of trading.

The Cayman Islands-registered platform, which describes itself as “institutionally-focused” and caters mainly to quantitative traders and hedge funds, priced its initial public offering at $37 per share. Trading under the ticker BLSH, the stock rocketed as high as $118 before settling at $68 by the close – giving Bullish a fully diluted market valuation of nearly $10 billion.

The IPO raised $1.1 billion after Bullish twice increased its target price in the days before its debut, underscoring strong investor appetite for crypto-linked stocks. The surge follows a series of eye-catching listings in recent months, including stablecoin issuer Circle and design software maker Figma, both of which saw triple-digit percentage gains on their opening days.

“Public capital markets are demonstrating a desire to invest in crypto-focused companies,” said Bullish president Chris Tyrer, pointing to Circle’s rally as another sign of the sector’s momentum.

The timing of Bullish’s market debut coincides with a buoyant period for digital assets. Bitcoin prices have hit record highs in recent months, buoyed by US President Donald Trump’s reversal of his predecessor’s regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrencies. In July, the US House passed landmark legislation to regulate stablecoins, marking the first major crypto bill approved by Congress.

Bullish counts Thiel, US crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz, and hedge fund manager Alan Howard among its early backers. While Thiel is not involved in day-to-day operations, his association adds weight to the company’s profile. Howard has since sold his stake.

The exchange also owns CoinDesk, the crypto media and data platform it acquired in 2023, and claims that around 35% of all bitcoin spot trading in 2024 took place on Bullish, excluding offshore players like Binance.

Bullish reported a $349 million net loss for Q1 2025, compared with $105 million in profit a year earlier, reflecting the volatility inherent in the sector. But Tyrer downplayed talk of overheating markets, saying: “Crypto is an asset class that has cycles. Peaks are peaky and troughs are deep. I don’t think we’re in a bubble.”

The debut marks Bullish’s second attempt to go public, after a 2021 SPAC deal fell apart during a market downturn. This time, with the wind at its back, the exchange appears determined to ride crypto’s latest surge to greater scale and visibility.