Peter Thiel-Backed Exchange Bullish Is in Talks to Go Public in SPAC Merger: Report

The crypto exchange Bullish is in talks to go public via a SPAC merger with fintech-focused acquisition company Far Peak Acquisition Corp, according to a report from Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter.

Bullish is backed by billionaire investor Peter Thiel, as well as Galaxy Digital and Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings.

Bloomberg reports the deal could value Bullish at up to $12 billion, though the final valuation will largely depend on the price of bitcoin at the time of the deal.

SPAC mergers are becoming an increasingly common way for crypto companies to go public, with exchanges like eToro and lending fintech SoFi merging with special-purpose acquisition companies to go public.

Bullish was announced just last month as a subsidiary of Block.one and was capitalized with over $10 billion in cash and digital assets, including 164,000 bitcoins.

Block.one’s bitcoin comes from raising $4 billion in a record-setting initial coin offering that closed in 2018.