ARK invest scoops $172M in bullish shares as stock soars 84% on debut

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest bought 2.53 million shares of crypto exchange Bullish across three of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Wednesday, in the company’s successful IPO.

According to trade notifications, the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) picked up 1,714,522 shares, the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) added 545,416 shares and the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) bought 272,755 shares. At Bullish’s $68 closing price, the combined purchases were worth about $172 million.

Bullish’s stock ended its first trading session up 83.8% from its IPO price of $37, closing with a market capitalization above $10 billion. Shares jumped another 11.2% in after-hours trading.

The surge came as the stock opened at $90 and hit an intraday high of $118, more than 215% above the IPO price, before falling back.

Bullish shares end the day up by 83%. Source: Google Finance

Bullish raises $1.1 billion

The Cayman Islands-based company, which operates a cryptocurrency exchange and owns CoinDesk, priced its IPO above earlier expectations of $32–$33 per share, raising $1.1 billion through the sale of 30 million shares, according to Reuters.

Notably, this marked Bullish’s second attempt at going public. Previously, the exchange tried to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal in 2021, but saw its earlier efforts collapse as markets soured amid rising interest rates.

As reported, Bullish operates through subsidiaries across multiple jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Germany and Gibraltar.

Crypto IPO craze continues

The listing followed a wave of high-profile offerings this year. Circle, the issuer of the USDC (USDC) stablecoin, raised $1.1 billion in its public debut in June, exceeding expectations and marking a record-setting 167% gain on its first day of trading.

On June 6, Gemini, the exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, also filed confidentially for a US listing. Both brothers supported Trump’s reelection bid and have backed crypto-focused political action committees.