Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency exchange Bullish today announced the initial launch of its platform to select institutional customers, following the receipt of a distributed ledger technology (DLT) license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC).
Bullish
Bullish (Bullish.com) is a digital asset firm launched by blockchain software company Block.one. Bullish plans to introduce ‘a fully regulated digital asset exchange’ later this year. The firm claims that it will be different from other exchanges and it will offer deep, predictable liquidity for investors to generate yield from their digital assets.
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The digital asset exchange is backed by a group of prolific investors and leading names in the venture capital space, including billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s Thiel Capital and Founders Fund, British hedge fund manager Alan Howard, U.S. hedge fund manger Louis Bacon, Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li, German investor Christian Angermayer’s Apeiron Investment Group, Galaxy Digital, and Japanese bank Nomura.
Bullish Goes Live With Institutional Clients
The invitation-only launch marked a “go live” for exchange software and operations, including customer onboarding. The inaugural batch of institutions is paving the way for a full launch which is expected to also welcome retail customers.
The DLT license obtained by Bullish (GI) Limited, the exchange operator, permits the exchange to offer its unique features such as Hybrid Order Book and proprietary Liquidity Pools that will underpin trading pairs on the exchange.
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Among the first institutional participants to support Bullish are a non-U.S. affiliate of Virtu Financial (NASDAQ: VIRT), the prominent, technology-enabled, global market-making firm, and Amber Group, one of the world’s leading crypto finance service providers.
Douglas Cifu, Chief Executive Officer, Virtu Financial, said:
“We are excited to be among Bullish’s early participants and to be working with a team that is leading the evolution of digital exchange platforms.”
“As a crypto native finance service provider, we look for opportunities to work with other industry leaders who are increasing accessibility and providing unique solutions,” states Amber Group Co-Founder, Tiantian Kullander. “We’re delighted to be working with a company that will help us grow our trading and product services.”
Brendan Blumer, Chairman of Bullish, commented:
“For years, we’ve been working to develop an exchange infrastructure that’s designed to meet the needs of investors who are seeking secure exposure to digital assets on a regulated platform, and with innovative liquidity and portfolio management options stemming from an entirely new exchange architecture. Bullish is the very culmination of this work and I am very proud of our team for getting us to where we are today.”
Bullish Group is initially making available US$3 billion of balance sheet assets to the Bullish Liquidity Pools, which facilitate automated lending and market-making functions while maintaining a balance of the value of assets contributed during variable market conditions.
Bullish Group expects to draw on its own digital assets and U.S. dollars to facilitate liquidity on the exchange and will gradually contribute these assets to the exchange’s Liquidity Pools to provide a competitive order book liquidity depth for customers.
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At launch, the Bullish exchange’s digital assets offering comprises BTC, ETH, EOS and USDC. Bullish exchange intends to broaden its offerings in the future.
Bullish does not plan for its platform to be available to U.S. persons at launch and until such time as it is allowed by applicable law to onboard U.S. persons (or categories of U.S. persons) to the platform.
Bullish previously announced its intention to go public through a business combination with Far Peak Acquisition Corporation. (NYSE: FPAC), a special purpose acquisition company. Subject to various approvals and conditions, the merger is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2021 or the first quarter of 2022.
