Digital asset exchange Bullish has officially filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States. This represents the latest crypto-adjacent firm to file for such a listing and is the second time Bullish is attempting this feat.
This comes right after the success of Crypto Week, which saw three different digital asset-related bills being passed by the US government. But even as Bullish continues to secure wins, experts worry about the state of the industry and how consumers can be protected.
Bullish Makes A Major Move
Now is as good a time as any for Bullish to pursue an IPO. As we've noted, the company has tried to secure an IPO in the past. Back in 2022, it tried to merge with Far Peak Acquisition Corporation and get its IPO approved. However, it faced several roadblocks. Ironically, one factor at the time was a decline in the crypto market, which meant that it simply wasn't as profitable to make its public debut in the capital market.
Now, the crypto industry is in a better place both financially and in terms of regulation. Tokens like Bitcoin have reached all-time price highs that were considered impossible years ago. On top of this, the asset class is being used in more industries than ever before. Take the world of gambling, for example. A decade ago, it was virtually unheard of to use cryptocurrency to place wagers. Now, platforms are accepting cryptocurrency alongside or even instead of fiat currency. As gambling expert Matt Bastock says in a recent article, international casino sites are quickly embracing cryptocurrency, and this new use case has benefited them financially.
With this in mind, Bullish is optimistic about its chances. In a statement released on July 19 2025, the company, which is backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, said, “Bullish has applied to list its ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘BLSH’.”
Other companies in the space, such as Grayscale and Gemini, have also filed applications with the SEC, and given recent developments, the chances seem positive. First, last year, the approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, and this year it is believed that more cryptocurrencies will get the same treatment.
Then there has been the massive support from the government. One of Donald Trump's major selling points as a candidate in 2024 was that he would support the crypto industry. In the months since he was reelected into office, he's made a series of notable, though often controversial, moves.
The SEC's leadership saw a major change-up after his inauguration, with former chair Gary Gensler, who was famously tough on the crypto industry, exiting. Trump also launched his own meme coin, which was criticized by many as nothing more cash grab. At the same time, the crypto industry has notably had an easier time regulatory-wise. lawsuits against major cryptocurrency companies were dropped in the wake of his inauguration, and there has been a bigger push from the White House to support the industry. The most recent crypto week was the latest new long line of pro-crypto moves by Trump, and this spells good things for the industry.
Should this IPO and others be approved, as well as incoming spot ETFs, 2025 could even eclipse 2024 as one of the best years in the crypto sector. But even as all these developments continue, it is worth noting that experts are sounding the alarm regarding crypto crime.
A Hack And A Possible Kidnapping
Two recent stories highlight some of the challenges the crypto industry still has to navigate. First, CoinDCX, one of the biggest crypto exchanges in India, suffered a major security breach that saw the loss of $44 million. While management of the exchange has explained that the breach was very quickly addressed and no customer funds were stolen, it really occurred a year to the day when WazriX, another major Indian crypto exchange, saw a hack that led to the loss of over 200 million dollars.
"The incident was quickly contained by isolating the affected operational account. Since our operational accounts are segregated from customer wallets, the exposure is only limited to this specific account and is being fully absorbed by us - from our own treasury reserves,” CoinCDX co-founder and CEO Sumit Gupta said in a statement.
Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT has also spoken out about the incident, noting that some of the funds were mixed using Tornado Cash, a controversial token mixer that has previously been sanctioned by the US government. Some of the tokens have also been changed to others, and for now, it is too early to tell if the criminals behind me operation will eventually be caught.
Crypto exchanges being hacked is not unheard of because they hold such a high number of tokens, and many criminals try to breach their security systems. However, exchanges seemed to have become more cautious of this fact. The fact that customer funds were kept securely in a cold wallet shows proactiveness on the exchange's part.
But while the exchange has mitigated some of the effects of the hack, other crypto crimes still abound. A notable one is the disappearance of a 74-year-old man, which law enforcement thinks might be a crypto kidnapping. Specifically, they believe it is a kidnapping linked to the crypto fortunes of his son. People being kidnapped to steal money is not unheard of at all, but as cryptocurrency becomes more valuable and more publicly visible, these sorts of incidents are far less rare.
Naiping Hou, 74, was first reported missing back in May after he left his home without his phone and hasn't been seen since. While his car was seen abandoned in Rancho Cucamonga, he remains at large. Even more disturbing, some clearly malicious individuals have been impersonating him to send messages to family members, and they have been conducting suspicious activities on his financial records.
His son, Wen Hou, has been a prominent crypto executive for years and believes that this might have played a part in his father's disappearance. He specifically states that someone has impersonated his father to steal about a million dollars from his bank accounts, and while a generous reward has been put forward for information leading to his Discovery, nothing has turned up just yet.
Experts have commented that this is part of a growing issue of people connected to the crypto industry being targeted by criminals.
Conclusion
The crypto industry is in a very interesting transitional period. On the one hand, businesses like Bullish are seeing even more progress, and the regulatory environment within the US is allowing for various projects to fly. On the other hand, crypto crime is still affecting both businesses and individuals within the space need to consider it.
If law enforcement can increase its efforts in prosecuting these crypto crimes, and individuals can also take precautions, we can create a crypto landscape that is more welcoming to everyone and can survive in the long term.
