Bullish stock jumped over 20% after securing a New York BitLicense

Bullish stock jumped over 20% on Thursday after finally landing approval to launch its crypto exchange in the United States, according to reporting from Yahoo Finance.

The license—issued by New York’s Department of Financial Services—had been the last major roadblock standing in the way of Bullish’s U.S. expansion. CEO Tom Farley confirmed the approval Wednesday on the company’s first earnings call since going public.

Tom said the company had already received regulatory clearance to operate in many U.S. states but refused to open for business nationally until it got this specific license from New York.

“While we have already had the ability to operate in many states because of our regulatory approval, we refrained from launching our exchange in the United States until we received the New York State Department of Financial Services BitLicense,” he said. “We received that license yesterday, and we look forward to bringing our exchange and our leading liquidity to the United States imminently, and we believe this to be the largest geographic market by far.”

Analysts push up price targets after U.S. approval

Bullish is already licensed in Germany and Hong Kong, and its exchange is built for institutional clients, not retail traders. With New York checked off, the company now holds three major regulatory licenses across the biggest crypto jurisdictions. Bullish also owns crypto news site CoinDesk.

Its public market debut came just last month after a long wait. Bullish had originally tried to go public through a SPAC merger in 2021, but the deal was killed after regulators started poking around. This time, it listed through a standard IPO, setting its price at $37 per share on August 14. After Thursday’s jump, shares are trading nearly 75% higher than that IPO level.

The company also reported its second quarter earnings on Wednesday. Revenue hit $57 million, down slightly from $60.7 million in the same period a year ago. But earnings per share came in at $0.93, a full reversal from a $1.03 loss last year.

Analysts didn’t waste time reacting. Ed Engel, analyst at Compass Point, raised his price target from $45 to $56, noting they had only given a 50% chance of New York granting the license. Ed’s rating on the stock remains Neutral.

Over at Bernstein, Gautam Chhugani said Bullish’s expansion into the U.S. will be a “key growth catalyst for the coming quarters.” He also pointed out the company now holds multiple tier 1 licenses, adding that “Bullish now holds multiple tier 1 regulatory licenses (German BaFin, Hong Kong SFC and U.S BitLicense) across major crypto markets, strengthening its positioning as global regulated institutional crypto exchange.” Gautam’s target is $60, with a Market Perform rating.

Bullish is now one of a small group of crypto companies that have gone public in 2025. That group includes Gemini (GEMI), Circle (CRCL), and eToro (ETOR).

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