Bullish NYSE: BLSH executives used the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call to frame its planned acquisition of Equiniti Group as a major strategic shift toward tokenized securities, while also reporting year-over-year revenue and profitability gains despite weaker digital asset prices.
Chairman and CEO Tom Farley said the company’s definitive agreement to acquire Equiniti for $4.2 billion, announced May 5, would create what he called a “tokenization powerhouse” spanning origination, issuance, trading, liquidity and visibility. The deal includes approximately $2.35 billion in newly issued Bullish ordinary shares and the assumption of $1.85 billion of Equiniti debt. Bullish is targeting a January 2027 close, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
Equiniti Deal Central to Tokenization Strategy
Farley said Bullish sees capital markets entering a “blockchain era” in which securities can be represented as programmable blockchain-based assets. He argued that the next wave after digital commodities and stablecoins will be tokenized securities, describing the global securities market as a $270 trillion market capitalization opportunity.
According to Farley, Equiniti provides two elements Bullish lacked: a regulated transfer agent and direct issuer relationships. Equiniti is the transfer agent of record for nearly 3,000 public company issuers, including more than 50% of the FTSE 100 and more than 30% of the S&P 500, he said. It serves 15,000 corporate clients, has 20 million KYC shareholder customers on its platform and processes more than half a trillion dollars in payments annually, primarily dividends.
Farley said the transfer agent role is critical because “only the issuer” can allow a token to represent the actual share of stock in a company. Without a transfer agent, he said, tokenized equity would be synthetic, off-register or akin to an IOU, creating counterparty risk and lacking legal standing for institutional investors.
Farley also said inbound interest following the announcement had exceeded Bullish’s expectations, with inquiries from issuers, financial services firms, technology partners and regulators. In response to an analyst question, he said Bullish had heard from large public companies, including Dow companies, interested in pursuing stock tokenization.
First-Quarter Revenue Rises 49%
Chief Financial Officer David Bonanno said total adjusted revenue for the first quarter was $92.8 million, up approximately 49% year over year. He said adjusted transaction revenue and subscription services and other revenue each posted slight sequential growth from the fourth quarter, despite Bitcoin declining approximately 24% quarter over quarter and broader digital asset weakness.
Adjusted operating expense was $57.7 million, up from $48.1 million in the fourth quarter. Bonanno said roughly $7 million of the increase was tied to the Consensus Hong Kong event, while about half of the remaining increase reflected investment in artificial intelligence tools across the business, including preparation for the Equiniti announcement.
Adjusted EBITDA was $35.1 million, representing an approximately 38% margin, compared with $13.2 million and a 21% margin in the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted net income was $20.3 million, or $0.13 per adjusted diluted share, compared with $2.1 million in the year-ago period and $28.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Bonanno said Bullish reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance. He added that full-year adjusted operating expense is expected to fall between the midpoint and upper end of the company’s range as Bullish accelerates investment in its tokenization platform. The second quarter is expected to be the highest quarterly expense period of 2026 because of spending tied to the Consensus Miami event.
Combined Company Outlook Reiterated
Bonanno reviewed the previously disclosed outlook for Bullish and Equiniti on a combined basis. The company expects pre-synergy combined 2026 adjusted total revenue of $1.25 billion to $1.35 billion, adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures of $490 million to $530 million, and adjusted net income of $270 million to $290 million.
For the medium term, Bullish expects annual revenue growth of approximately 6% to 8%, net cost reductions of $25 million to $50 million, and adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures growing by about $100 million per year. Bonanno also said Bullish expects to generate approximately $1 billion of free cash flow over the medium-term period and exit 2029 with an EBITDA less CapEx margin of about 50%.
Exchange, CoinDesk and Events Show Growth
Farley said Bullish traded $11.6 billion in options market volume during the quarter and built open interest share to 14% of the global Bitcoin options market, making it the No. 2 exchange globally for Bitcoin options. He said the company reached a single-day volume high of $858 million in April and signed new clients including Ripple Prime and QCP.
The company recently filed for U.S. futures and options exchange and clearinghouse licenses, known as DCM and DCO licenses. Farley said those licenses would help Bullish expand derivatives products in the U.S. and support trading of tokenized securities as they come to market. He also said Bullish remains on track to receive European and U.S. licenses to facilitate securities trading before the end of 2026.
Farley said CoinDesk total page views rose 30% in the quarter, while monthly unique visitors increased roughly 60% quarter over quarter. He added that CoinDesk Indices is now the benchmark for Morgan Stanley’s BTC ETP, MSBT, and will serve as benchmark for planned ETH and Solana ETPs expected in coming months. MSBT began trading April 8 and amassed more than $220 million in assets under management, according to Farley.
Analysts Press on Adoption, U.S. Expansion and Revenue Opportunity
During the question-and-answer session, analysts focused heavily on tokenized securities adoption. Farley said issuers could benefit from greater visibility into shareholder behavior, the ability to reward long-term shareholders and reductions in issues such as naked short selling. Bonanno said the CFO is likely to become the buyer of transfer agent and tokenization services, arguing that 24/7 price discovery, access to new buyer bases and improved shareholder visibility would provide more value than traditional transfer agency services.
Asked about revenue opportunities, Farley said Bullish had tokenized its own shares, with the board voting to tokenize Bullish shares and minting roughly 151 million shares on the Solana blockchain. He said potential revenue sources include tokenization services for issuers, trading tokenized securities on approved platforms, liquidity services and possible future fee structures tied to tokenized assets.
Bonanno said Bullish has not yet sized the full revenue opportunity but sees potential with blockchain networks, stablecoin issuers, tokenized Treasury issuers and retail distribution partners. He said the company will update investors as it gains clearer visibility into how those opportunities may develop.
On competition in transfer agency, Farley described the industry as having high retention rates, with opportunities to gain share through new listings and over time from existing clients. He said Bullish had already received inbound interest from customers of other transfer agents following the Equiniti announcement.
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.
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