A digital asset company expected to launch a new cryptocurrency exchange announced a SPAC merger Friday morning.
The SPAC Deal: Bullish announced it will merge with Far Peak Acquisition Corp FPAC in a deal valuing the company at a pro forma equity value of $9 billion.
A rumor from Bloomberg listed the expected deal price at up to $12 billion but said valuation was a key point due to the declining value of Bitcoin BTC/USD.
Far Peak Acquisition is led by former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) President Thomas Farley, who supported an investment by NYSE in Coinbase Global Inc COIN in 2015 and has been bullish on Bitcoin for years. Farley will lead Bullish as the new CEO.
Bullish is backed by Block.one which invested $400 million and has digital assets including 164,000 Bitcoin and 20 million EOS into the company.
A $300 million PIPE on the deal includes investments from BlackRock, Cryptology Asset Group and Galaxy Digital Holdings Inc BRPHF.
Previous investors in Bullish include Peter Thiel, Richard Li and Nomura. Thiel and Li serve on the company’s advisory board currently.
Public FPAC shareholders will own 8.6% of the company after the merger.
About Bullish: Bullish plans to launch a “revolutionary, regulated cryptocurrency exchange that offers deep, predictable liquidity for investors to generate yield from their digital assets.”
Bullish wants to create a new exchange that benefits asset holders, who provide liquidity now but don’t reap the rewards.
“We redesigned the exchange to benefit asset holders, enable traders and increase market integrity,” the company said.
Bullish will combine the best of central order books and DeFi exchanges, according to the company.
Related Link: 7 SPACs To Play The Rise Of Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency Stocks
Growth Ahead: Bullish will launch a private pilot program in the coming weeks with plans to launch the platform publicly later in 2021.
At launch, Bullish will support liquidity pairs including Bitcoin, USD, EOS, Ethereum ETH/USD and USDT.
Bullish will make revenue from treasury management, being a market maker and margin fees.
“We’re only in the first or second inning off the cryptocurrency market and I’m thrilled to be joining the Bullish team as we revolutionize the future of digital assets through cutting edge financial technologies,” Farley said.
The retail adoption of cryptocurrency is expanding with Bullish reporting that 8% of U.S. individuals owning cryptocurrency and 21% expected to own coins in the future.
The expanding global acceptance of cryptocurrency is also seen as helping the growth prospects for bullish.
FPAC Price Action: FPAC shares are up 2.74% to $10.18 on Friday at publication.
Disclosure: Author is long shares FPAC and BRPHF.
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