sandmark.com
New York-listed crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH) has agreed to acquire Equiniti, a global transfer agent, in a $4.2bn debt-and-equity transaction to create the first fully integrated blockchain-enabled issuer services platform.
The deal, announced on 5 May, merges Bullish’s tokenization technology – the process of converting real-world assets into digital tokens on a blockchain – and regulated exchange capabilities with Equiniti’s role as registered transfer agent for nearly 3,000 public companies.
A transfer agent is a specialized financial services firm that keeps official records of who owns a company’s shares, processes investor transactions such as buying or selling stock, and handles corporate actions including dividend payments.
Deal structure
The $4.2bn consideration includes $1.85bn in assumed Equiniti debt and approximately $2.35bn in Bullish (BLSH) stock, valued at $38.48 per share as of 4 May. Private equity firm Siris, which acquired Equiniti in 2021, will receive two board seats in the combined entity and retain a call option over certain non-core assets.
On a pro forma basis – meaning as if the companies had already combined – the merged group is projected to generate $1.3bn in adjusted total revenue and more than $500mn in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, less capital expenditure for 2026, according to the announcement. Bullish forecasts 6-8% annual revenue growth from 2027 to 2029, with tokenization and blockchain services contributing 20% of that expansion. The company targets an EBITDA margin of around 50% by 2029.
Bullish shares rose as much as 4.1% in early pre-market trading to $42.71 as the news was announced at 12:10 UTC, before dropping back to around $41.40 by 12:45 UTC. Year-to-date, Bullish stock is up around 5.9%
Tokenization beachhead
The acquisition pairs Bullish’s onchain infrastructure with Equiniti’s deep issuer relationships to build a transfer agent purpose-built for blockchain settlement. Bullish chief executive Tom Farley said tokenized securities require infrastructure capable of instant, atomic settlement while remaining compatible with traditional systems. The combined platform will interoperate with central securities depositories including the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Euroclear and Clearstream. It also aligns with emerging regulations such as the European Union’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) pilot regime.
Equiniti chief executive Dan Kramer and his leadership team will continue running day-to-day operations. Equiniti will operate alongside Bullish Exchange and CoinDesk, another Bullish subsidiary, within the enlarged group.
Bullish listed on the New York Stock Exchange in late 2025 after filing its initial public offering (IPO) in July that year. The listing was backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Nomura and Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz. In the first quarter of 2025, the exchange recorded $2.5bn in average daily trading volume and ranked among the top five spot platforms for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
The transaction marks a strategic step for a company that reported a net loss of $786mn for full-year 2025, driven primarily by fair-value movements on digital asset holdings. By acquiring Equiniti, Bullish gains immediate scale in traditional capital markets infrastructure while positioning itself at the centre of the shift towards tokenized real-world assets. This move places it in direct competition with asset managers such as BlackRock (BLK), whose BUIDL tokenized money market fund surpassed $2bn in assets under management by April 2026, as well as other players expanding tokenized offerings.