August might be sleepy for IPOs, but this year the crypto market is wide awake. Peter Thiel-backed Bullish is charging toward a New York Stock Exchange debut later this month — and demand is nothing short of frenzied. The offering is already six times oversubscribed, with heavyweight investors like Blackstone and Ark Invest jostling for a piece.
It’s a dramatic turnaround from the “crypto winter” that kept digital assets in the deep freeze. Now, a wave of listings — from Galaxy Digital’s Nasdaq move to eToro, Circle, and soon Bitgo, Grayscale, Kraken, OKX, and Gemini — signals that “crypto summer” has arrived. Even mainstream names like GameStop and Marathon Digital Holdings are holding Bitcoin and Ethereum in their corporate treasuries.
“The moment the market opened, it was like letting go of a balloon underwater,” said Sebastian Bea, Head of Investment at ReserveOne. Regulatory barriers that once made public listings nearly impossible have given way to a more supportive environment, encouraging companies to strike while sentiment is hot.
Bankers, hungry for deals in a sluggish M&A climate, are pushing crypto firms to go public, tapping into investors’ renewed appetite. The influx of listings could intensify competition, warns Aya Kantorovich of August Digital, noting that premiums are shrinking as capital spreads across more companies.
Still, the mainstream shift is undeniable. Just a few years ago, institutional investors risked backlash for touching crypto. Now, with Coinbase in the S&P 500, digital assets are seen as a legitimate — even expected — part of a diversified portfolio.
In short, the market’s not just warming up — it’s running hot. And if Bullish’s debut is any sign, Wall Street’s latest season might just be its boldest yet.
