Bullish misses revenue targets as losses balloon to $604M despite tokenization push

Bullish revenue missed estimates in the first quarter of 2026, as the crypto exchange recorded a whopping $604.9 million loss, prompting concerns about the company’s profitability even as it continues to expand into tokenization and digital asset services.

The Cayman Islands-based firm missed Wall Street estimates mainly due to reduced income from subscriptions and services, and lower crypto prices also reduced the worth of its digital asset holdings.

The company reported adjusted revenue for the quarter ending March 31 of $92.8 million, below analysts’ estimates of $94.1 million.

Subscription and services revenue totaled $54.8 million, also missing forecasts of $57.6 million. Bullish’s losses swelled from $348.6 million last year during the same period. The latest number also fell from the prior quarter, when the company recorded a $563.6 million loss.

Bullish shares fell nearly 9 percent after opening on Thursday, then bounced back later in the day. The stock was last trading at roughly $41.32, dropping more than 1 percent.

That leaves the company well below its August debut price of $69.54, when investor appetite for crypto-related firms was significantly higher.

Despite the disappointing results, the firm continues to position itself for long-term growth through its push into tokenizing traditional assets. The company has emphasized this as a core pillar of its future business model, alongside expansion into derivatives and institutional trading infrastructure.

Why did Bullish miss its revenue targets?

Analysts said weaker-than-expected performance was in large part due to seasonal slowdowns in the company’s conference and services businesses.

Analysts at Citigroup and Compass Point predicted that subscription revenue may be affected by the timing of large crypto conferences and events.

One of Bullish’s key subscription-based businesses is CoinDesk, the crypto news outlet acquired by Bullish in 2023. It also recently hosted its annual Consensus conference. In Miami, among the largest crypto meets in the world, Bullish said its first- and second-quarter conferences attracted a combined 26,000 people.

Nevertheless, analysts said conference-related revenue fluctuates depending on the timing of events, sponsors, and general market feeling.

The company also remained under pressure due to low cryptocurrency prices throughout the quarter. Like so many crypto-native companies, Bullish has a large number of digital assets on its balance sheet.

As prices plummeted, the exchange reported unrealized losses of around $559 million on those holdings. Bullish revealed that it currently holds roughly $2.3 billion in digital assets.

Despite the disappointing financial results, CEO Tom Farley said he remained satisfied with the company’s overall progress. Farley cited Bullish’s planned $4.2 billion acquisition of Equiniti as a key step toward advancing its tokenization ambitions.

Bullish said the Equiniti deal could enhance its capacity to offer tokenized financial products and services to institutional clients. But the exchange has increasingly looked beyond being a crypto exchange alone in its efforts to create infrastructure linking traditional finance with blockchain-based markets.

This strategy emerges as several major financial firms further experiment with tokenized assets and blockchain settlement systems.

Bullish expands Bitcoin options trading business

Despite the large quarterly loss, Bullish highlighted growth in the derivatives business, particularly in Bitcoin options trading. In its shareholder presentation, the company announced that it traded $11.6 billion in options during the quarter.

Bullish said it is now the second-largest Bitcoin options exchange after Deribit.

The company also said it planned to expand that business into the United States. Bullish said it has already applied for licenses with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The move is likely to enable Bullish to capitalize on rising interest in regulated crypto derivatives products in the U.S. market, especially as institutional investors continue to seek exposure to Bitcoin trading products. Yet the company has challenges ahead.

Crypto markets remain quite volatile, and investors are increasingly focused on whether exchanges can generate sustainable profits beyond trading alone.

Bullish’s latest earnings report shows that, despite heavy bets on tokenization and derivatives growth, the company’s financial outlook is closely tied to the volatility of digital asset prices and the broader crypto market cycle.