Bullish (NYSE:BLSH) reported second-quarter results that showed revenue growth and positive adjusted EBITDA despite lower crypto prices and volatility, while executives emphasized tokenized securities and the pending Equiniti acquisition as central to the company’s longer-term strategy.
Chief Executive Officer Tom Farley said Bullish began trading its own tokenized shares on its regulated venue during the quarter, marking the company’s first trades involving a tokenized security. He described the launch as an initial step in building infrastructure for issuer-sponsored tokenized securities, in which a company’s transfer agent records a token as the legal share on the official register.
Second-Quarter Financial Results
Chief Financial Officer David Bonanno said total adjusted revenue was $92.6 million, essentially unchanged from the first quarter and up 62% from a year earlier. Subscription, Services & Other revenue reached a quarterly record of $62.7 million, while adjusted transaction revenue totaled $29.9 million.
- Adjusted operating expenses were $63.1 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA was $29.5 million, representing an approximately 32% margin.
- Adjusted net income was $14.3 million after $14.5 million in finance expense.
- Net liquid assets totaled $2.1 billion at quarter-end.
Bonanno said second-quarter expenses represented the company’s expected peak quarterly adjusted operating expense level for 2026. Costs included Consensus-related expenses and approximately $2.5 million in one-time compensation costs associated with hiring, retention and relocation as part of a broader business transformation.
For 2026, Bullish narrowed its guidance for Subscription, Services & Other revenue to $225 million to $245 million, while maintaining the midpoint of its prior outlook. Adjusted operating expenses are expected to total $225 million to $230 million, and finance expenses are still expected to range from $52 million to $60 million. The company does not provide guidance for adjusted transaction revenue.
Equiniti Deal and Tokenization Strategy
Bullish remains on track to close its proposed acquisition of Equiniti Group in January 2027, according to Farley. He said all antitrust clearances have been obtained and other regulatory approvals are progressing. The transaction is subject to closing conditions and regulatory risks.
Equiniti maintains share registers for nearly 3,000 corporate issuers, including roughly half of the FTSE 100 and 30% of the S&P 500, Farley said. The company serves more than 20 million shareholders and processes more than $500 billion in payments annually. Farley highlighted Equiniti’s client retention rate of more than 95% and its long-standing issuer relationships.
Management said its approach differs from synthetic token models because it focuses on issuer-sponsored tokens representing actual legal ownership of shares. Farley said synthetic and issuer-sponsored structures could coexist, but argued that issuers would favor a model that gives them control over issuance, ownership information, voting and corporate actions.
Bullish plans to hold a tokenization showcase at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 27, where it expects to introduce issuer and blockchain partners and demonstrate live tokenized equity issuance and trading. Farley said the company is seeing an expanding pipeline of issuer discussions, although he characterized tokenization as likely becoming a more meaningful growth driver in 2027 rather than producing a major transaction-revenue lift in 2026.
Bonanno said Bullish expects tokenized equities to contribute to trading activity in 2027. Management also said it intends for issuer-sponsored tokens to be interoperable across venues and blockchains, rather than confined to a closed ecosystem.
Exchange, Institutional and Media Developments
Farley said crypto spot-market volumes moderated as prices and volatility declined across the broader market. Bullish’s volumes and market share also declined in the second quarter, though the company continued adding institutional clients. He said one of the world’s largest wealth managers selected Bullish as its exclusive crypto trading provider for its Asia business, and cited new relationships with SoFi, Berenberg, Bit2Me, BitGo Prime and others.
The company also expects to gain access to the U.S. market for perpetual futures, dated futures and options in the coming months, nearly a year earlier than previously anticipated. Farley said Bullish believes it can use an approved futures commission merchant to access the U.S. market through its existing overseas regulated platform, subject to the necessary approvals.
Within its media and events business, Bullish said Consensus drew more than 16,000 attendees from more than 100 countries in Miami. CoinDesk page views rose by 10 million during the second quarter, up 38% year over year, while unique visitors increased 83%.
Bonanno said Bullish is not focused on monetizing higher CoinDesk traffic through banner advertising, instead positioning the media platform to support issuers, partners and the company’s wider tokenization strategy. CoinDesk Indices continued to add institutional mandates, including use as the benchmark for Morgan Stanley’s flagship Bitcoin exchange-traded product, which Farley said had reached roughly $400 million in assets.
Regulatory Outlook
Farley said the U.S. CLARITY Act did not advance during the current session, which he said was not helpful for adoption of traditional crypto assets by some institutions. However, he said Bullish’s tokenization strategy does not depend on the legislation.
He pointed to reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission could introduce an “innovation exemption” for tokenized securities. Farley said such a framework could provide guidance for issuers, broker-dealers and exchanges and potentially accelerate discussions with Equiniti’s issuer clients, particularly if the SEC recognizes the issuer’s role in the tokenization process.
About Bullish (NYSE:BLSH)
Bullish (NYSE: BLSH) is a company that develops and operates digital asset market infrastructure, including a cryptocurrency trading platform and related technology services. The firm’s stated activities focus on providing exchange services, market structure and trading technology designed to support the listing, execution and clearing of digital assets. Bullish positions itself as a bridge between traditional capital markets practices and the evolving cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The business was announced in connection with Block.one, the software developer known for its work on the EOS blockchain, and was formed with the intent of creating a regulated, institutional-grade marketplace for digital assets.
