2 Hot Fintech IPOs Are Up Next. Why Their Stocks Might Pop.

Crypto trading firm Bullish is prepping for its stock market debut. (Dreamstime)

Next up in the red hot IPO summer? Debuts from two buzzy fintech companies—crypto trading firm Bullish and options exchange Miami International.

Both companies set terms for their initial public offerings earlier this week, with the stocks likely to begin trading sometime during the week of August 11.

They will follow a hot streak for IPOs, including recent blockbuster debuts from rocket launcher and lunar lander company Firefly Aerospace; design software firm Figma; stablecoin company Circle Internet Group; and cloud company CoreWeave. According to data from IPO research and investing firm Renaissance Capital, 126 IPOs have priced so far this year, up more than 50% from the same period in 2024.

Bullish owns the CoinDesk crypto news and information site, in addition to its namesake exchange. The Cayman Islands-headquartered company intends to raise about $600 million from the sale of 20 million shares at the midpoint of a projected range of $28 to $31, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bullish would be valued at $4.3 billion at a price of $29.50 a share. The stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BLSH.

The company has some prominent backers, including Palantir and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, whose Founders Fund and Thiel Capital were early investors in Block.one, the blockchain software company that helped launch Bullish in 2021. Bullish also said in its IPO filing that iShares owner BlackRock and Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management expressed interest in buying up to a combined $200 million of shares at the IPO price.

Bullish is looking to take advantage of the renewed optimism for Bitcoin, stablecoins, and other digital assets, thanks to more favorable regulations in Washington under the Trump administration. Bitcoin prices, currently hovering around $117,000, have surged more than 25% so far this year, crushing the S&P 500’s roughly 8% gain. The recent passage of the GENIUS Act—which provides more regulatory clarity for stablecoins like Circle Internet Group’s USDC and Tether’s USDT—has been viewed as a watershed moment for the crypto industry.

Miami International, meanwhile, might not be as well-known as Bullish. The company, which specializes in options, futures, and derivatives trading via its MIAX exchanges, is looking to raise $300 million by selling 15 million shares at a price range of $19 to $21. At the $20 midpoint, Miami International would have a market valuation of $1.9 billion. It will trade on the NYSE with the ticker of MIAX. Private-equity firm Warburg Pincus and trading firms Wolverine Holdings and Susquehanna Securities are top investors.

If the success of prominent IPOs such as Circle and CoreWeave during the past few months is any indication, demand for both Bullish and Miami International should be robust. There has been particularly strong demand for crypto IPOs, with brokerage eToro and Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, an investing firm focusing on digital assets, both going public this year.

But investors still need to proceed cautiously. Bullish swung to a net loss of $349 million in the first quarter of this year, from a profit a year earlier. The company did say in its most recent IPO filing though that it expected a net profit between $106.1 million and $109.1 million in the second quarter. And Miami International barely broke even in the first six months of 2025, posting net income of $2.1 million compared with a profit of $102.3 million in the first half of 2024.

What’s more, investors need to realize that the small floats—the public shares that will be available for trading—for such IPOs can help artificially boost the price on their debut day. With only a tiny amount of stock being offered (less than 15% of Bullish’s total shares outstanding will be sold in the IPO, for example) retail investors often are at a disadvantage when a new stock begins trading. That’s because they are clamoring for a stock that has strong demand and scarce supply.

For that reason, some investing experts suggest that investors wait for so-called lockup periods to expire, typically 180 days after an IPO. That’s when many early investors are allowed to start selling their stock, potentially flooding the market with more shares and diluting the price for anyone who bought the IPO shortly after it hit the market. This is something to keep in mind now that the IPO window once again seems to be propped open.

Write to Paul R. La Monica at paul.lamonica@barrons.com