Bullish Q2 FY2025 earnings call

• Regulatory Approvals: Bullish holds key Tier 1 regulatory licenses from EU, HK, UK, and recently obtained the New York State BitLicense, positioning for U.S. launch.
• Liquidity Services: Grew significantly, with revenue line including collaborations like with Solana and agreements with stablecoin and digital asset issuers.
• Exchange Pricing: Optimized pricing starting March 2025, with spreads showing improvement in Q3.
• Options Platform: In production beta phase, with plans for full launch in Q4 2025.
• CoinDesk Updates: Hired Dave LaValle, continued growth in AUM for indices, completed CC Data integration, and executed successful consensus conferences.

Bullish operates two primary brands: the Bullish Exchange and CoinDesk. The Bullish Exchange has facilitated over $530 billion of total volume year to date through August 2025, with more than $485 billion in spot volume alone. It offers spot, perpetual futures, and dated futures trading, and is set to launch options soon. CoinDesk's information services include CoinDesk Indices with $41 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2025, CoinDesk Data serving over 11,000 institutional investors, and CoinDesk Insights reaching a global audience of over 80 million people. CoinDesk Indices' AUM increased by over $9 billion from Q1, and they launched CDOR, a benchmark interest rate for stablecoins.

• Q3 adjusted revenue expected to be in the range of $69 million-$76 million, with adjusted transaction revenue between $25.5 million and $28 million, and subscription service and other revenue between $43.5 million and $48 million.
• Anticipate Q2 adjusted EBITDA between $25 million and $28 million, and adjusted net income between $12 million and $17 million.
• Plan to provide quarterly guidance on adjusted operating expenses and SS&O revenue, and monthly reporting on spot perpetual volumes and spreads.

• Market Volatility: Historically low BTC price volatility led to lower market-wide digital asset trading volumes, impacting revenue.
• Regulatory Changes: While regulatory clarity is helping, changes could still affect institutional adoption and business operations.
• Competition: Fierce competition in the digital asset space could impact market share and revenue.

Q: Ken Worthington asked about the growth of liquidity services tokens and pipeline for stablecoins and non-stablecoin tokens.

A: Tom Farley and David Bonanno discussed that liquidity services growth has accelerated due to regulatory clarity, with the pipeline having more non-stablecoin token issuers but stablecoins still emerging.

Q: Peter Christiansen asked about sales cycle for U.S. institutional accounts and the trader challenge promotion.

A: Tom Farley mentioned the sales cycle for U.S. accounts takes time, and David Bonanno talked about the trader challenge as a promotional activity to expose new customer segments.

Q: Dan Fannon asked about customer concentration and pricing adjustments.

A: Tom Farley and David Bonanno stated that pricing adjustments have diversified the customer base and are comfortable with the current framework.

Q: Brett Knoblauch asked about CoinDesk indices asset linked fees and ETF catalyst.

A: Tom Farley discussed the growth potential of indices, including the CoinDesk 5 ETF approval by the SEC.

Q: Brian Bedell asked about liquidity services revenue growth potential.

A: David Bonanno said growth is from all subscription services segments, predominantly driven by liquidity services.

Q: Chris Brendler asked about spread sustainability.

A: Tom Farley and David Bonanno explained spreads are sensitive to volatility, with August as a benchmark and ongoing optimization for total adjusted transaction revenue.

Q: Bill Papanastasiou asked about additional read-throughs from the BitLicense regarding custody.

A: Tom Farley stated Bullish is already in custody but no extensive business model changes related to custody with the BitLicense.

Q: Joseph Vafi asked about options platform progress.

A: Tom Farley said the options platform is in beta with live trading, showing growth in options volumes and positive signs for full launch in Q4.