Bullish Stock Jumps Again After Soaring 84% in IPO. Why the Gains Keep Coming. — Barrons.com

By Callum Keown

Bullish stock was set to jump for a second day Thursday after the CoinDesk owner soared more than 80% on its trading debut.

Shares in the crypto exchange pointed more than 14% higher at $77.58 ahead of the open, after rising 84% to close at $68 in the previous session. Its encouraging debut gave the company a market capitalization of around $10 billion but that looks set to climb nearer to $11.5 billion if the premarket gains hold.

The cryptocurrency rally may be helping. The momentum continued overnight as the price of Bitcoin hit a record high above $124,000. It has since fallen back to below $122,000 but it's still up around 2% over the past 24 hours.

"Bitcoin's price momentum this week reflects growing global conviction," said Willem Schroé, CEO of Bitcoin-based blockchain Botanix Labs. "A potential Fed rate cut is boosting demand for harder assets, while the Bullish IPO signals institutional confidence in crypto's future," he added.

It isn't unusual for stocks to give back some gains on day two after impressive debuts on Wall Street but Bullish is showing no signs of that happening as it lives up to its name.

The shares opened at $90 Wednesday before rising to $118, more than tripling the $37 price set by bankers ahead of the debut. That price was above the expected $32-$33 range.

The Bullish IPO was seen as a test of the strength of investor demand for cryptocurrency and initial public offerings. The answer seems to be: very strong indeed.

Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@dowjones.com

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