Bullish Crypto Exchange in Talks of Going Public via SPAC Merger

UTC by Steve Muchoki · 3 min read
Bullish Crypto Exchange in Talks of Going Public via SPAC Merger
Photo: Heisenberg Media / Flickr

Sources said the Bullish SPAC merger agreement could be reached as soon as a few weeks from now.

Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, is in talks about going public via a SPAC merger with Far Peak Acquisition Corp (NYSE: FPAC). The deal could value Bullish at up to $12 billion according to anonymous sources. However, this figure will be largely dependent on Bitcoin’s price at the time of the launch.

Sources also said the Bullish SPAC merger agreement could be reached as soon as a few weeks from now.

The merger speculation caused Far Peak shares to gain 5.5% Wednesday, marking an all-time intraday surge. Shares closed at $9.92, 2.06% up, and were trading at $10.00, 0.81% up in today’s pre-market session, going by MarketWatch.

The SPAC is under the leadership of ex-NYSE Group president Tom Farley. Co-leading it is David Bonanno, former managing director of Third Point LLC hedge fund. Last December, the company raised roughly $550 million to target companies in the fintech industry. Farley’s record also shows he led another SPAC – Far Point Acquisition Corp, which merged with tax-services firm Global Blue.

Already, Far Peak has been approached by investors to participate in private investment in public equity (PIPE). According to sources, the PIPE could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Bullish, on the other hand, was launched in May by Bullish Global, a subsidiary of the software firm, Block.one. The latter is backed by Founders Fund owned by a billionaire entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Peter Thiel. Other investors are Louis Bacon, and Alan Howard, both hedge fund managers, and Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li, among others.

Investors from Block.one injected $10 billion into the exchange, in both cash and digital assets, including 164,000 Bitcoins. Bullish’s launch came shortly after the listing of Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN), the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform.

Bullish SPAC Merger

Other crypto exchanges such as Kraken have also shown interest in going public. This is despite increasing concerns about cryptocurrencies’ volatility in addition to their usefulness as a form of payment. There has also been stringent regulatory scrutiny of the assets in China, which has further deepened asset prices. For instance, Bitcoin price dropped to a consolidation point of around $30,000, from its $65,000 April high.

Black-check mergers have recently become the path to going public for crypto companies. The deals are appealing as they are typically less time-consuming and relatively cheaper compared to traditional IPOs. News has it that eToro exchange is eyeing a SPAC merger in Q3 2021.

Nevertheless, negotiations for the Bullish SPAC merger are still ongoing and there are no assurances of a transaction. Additionally, no official statements on the deal have been made by Block. one or Far Peak.

Business News, Cryptocurrency News, Deals News, Market News, News
Related Articles