Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange Bullish to go public via $9 billion SPAC merger

Peter Thiel

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for New York Times

Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange backed by billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel, on Friday announced it's going public in a merger with special purpose acquisition company Far Peak Acquisition in a deal valued at $9 billion.

The company is expected to have approximately $600 million in net cash, including $300 million from EFM Asset Management, with participation from BlackRock, Cryptology Asset Group, and Galaxy Digital.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2021 and is subject to approval by Far Peak stockholders.

Bullish was launched by Block.One, a blockchain company that has funded more than 100 entrepreneurs to date. Block.One is backed by Thiel as well as prominent hedge fund managers Alan Howard and Louis Bacon.

Among the investors of Bullish are Richard Li, one of Hong Kong's wealthiest billionaires; Christian Angermayer, a German billionaire entrepreneur; and Japanese investment bank Nomura.

Upon completion, Far Peak CEO and chair Thomas Farley will become the CEO of Bullish. Farley previously served as the president of the New York Stock Exchange.

Block.One CEO Brendan Blumer meanwhile will become chairman of Bullish.

In the coming weeks, Bullish said it will run a private pilot program leading up to its public launch.

"With the increased interest from institutional players and sophisticated traders, it is critical to iterate on the existing exchange infrastructures we see today," Farley said in a statement. "We're only in the first or second inning of the cryptocurrency market."

SPACs, which are shell companies seeking to merge with private companies with the intention of taking them public, have exploded in popularity in the last year.

In 2020, a total of 248 SPACs raised $83.3 billion according to SPAC Analytics. But roughly halfway through 2021 alone, data already show 366 SPACs that have raised $190 billion, comprising 59% of initial public offerings.

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