- CryptoGeneralSPAC
- July 11, 2021
- 5 minutes read
SPAC: Crypto Exchange Bullish To Go Public In $9B Deal
It’s an interesting day in the world of SPACs and cryptocurrency, two worlds that are much driven by hype with…
It’s an interesting day in the world of SPACs and cryptocurrency, two worlds that are much driven by hype with fundamentals notwithstanding in many cases. You know when they say bullish like I’m bullish (aggressively confident) on a stock. It turns out that there’s a new crypto exchange bearing the name Bullish and that exchange has secured one of the biggest SPAC merger deals on the block.
- Here’s the thing, Bullish has not even fully launched but has agreed to go public via a SPAC merger at a valuation of $9bn (?!). More so, it’s merging with a SPAC launched by Thomas Farley, an ex-President of the New York Stock Exchange who’ll then become Bullish’s CEO after the merger. I may not know much but that seems to signal some conflict of interest.
- Bullish has agreed to merge with Far Peak Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: FPAC) to become a public company. The terms of the merger value the crypto exchange at $9bn Pro-forma, a very high valuation for an exchange that hasn’t even fully launched.
- But here’s the thing, Bullish’s initial capitalization includes 164,000 BTC worth $5.5bn at current prices, 20 million EOS worth about $80mn, and $400mn in funding from investors and its parent company Block.one, so there are some major assets to back up a great deal of that high valuation.
- Bullish is an offshoot of Block.one, a blockchain software company behind the EOS coin. EOS raised $4bn from its initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018, marking the biggest ICO in history. In addition, Block.one has invested in dozens of crypto companies and projects around the globe.
- In its investor presentation, Bullish pitched itself as a crypto exchange with low transaction fees and strong compliance frameworks. It plans to come out of beta to publicly launch in the second half of this year.
- Like many crypto exchanges, Bullish will generate revenue primarily from spot trading fees and also fees and interest from margin trading. It’s the proven strategy of many crypto exchanges in existence.
- Bullish’s investors include Peter Thiel and his VC firm Founders Fund, German entrepreneur Christian Angermayer, hedge fund tycoon Alan Howard, and crypto honcho Galaxy Digital. The company’s merger is expected to be closed by the end of this year.
