Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Bullish Buys Equiniti For Tokenized Market Infrastructure
May 5, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Activity | Digital Assets And Tokenization, Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure
Ownership Records Become A Digital Asset Prize
On May 5, 2026, Bullish agreed to acquire Equiniti from Siris in an all stock transaction valued at $4.2B, with FT Partners serving as financial advisor to Siris. The deal gives Bullish control of a regulated transfer agent that serves:
- 3,000 public companies
- Supports more than 20M shareholder relationships
- Processes about $500B in annual payments
Equiniti’s client base includes roughly 50% of the FTSE 100 and about 33% of the S&P 500, placing it directly inside the ownership and record keeping core that global capital markets already rely on. It's a scaled infrastructure business with expected 2026 revenue of $890 - $940M and EBITDA of $335 - $350M.
See: a16z Raises $2.2B For Practical Crypto Infrastructure
That kind of scale can handle real volume, real issuers, and real investor bases that tokenized securities systems require. The platform already processes payments, dividends, and corporate actions at scale across global markets.
Frank Baker, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Siris:
"Tokenization represents one of the most significant shifts in market infrastructure since the advent of electronic trading, and we are confident that Bullish is exceptionally well positioned to build on Equiniti’s strength and capture the meaningful growth opportunities ahead.”
Regulated Ownership Infrastructure
Transfer agents operate at the center of capital markets, and Bullish is buying the system of record. They track ownership, manage corporate actions, and connect issuers to investors. That role becomes even more valuable as securities are tokenized and begin moving faster and across more venues.
Bullish already operates digital asset market infrastructure across trading, liquidity, and data. It's listed on the New York Stock Exchange BLSH and holds licenses across major jurisdictions, including New York, Germany under MiCAR, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar.
Equiniti adds the issuer side of the market. Together, the combined platform points to a full stack that spans issuance, registry, compliance, trading, and settlement.
This deal puts Bullish on a different track than other major platforms. Coinbase is focused on custody, trading, and derivatives. Robinhood is expanding distribution and retail access, including in Canada. This aligns with growing market activity in tokenized collateral and cash, where trusted infrastructure is driving adoption more than isolated blockchain tools.
Conclusion
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. The outcome isn't final, but the direction is already visible. Ownership records are becoming a strategic asset in digital markets, and Bullish just paid $4.2B to secure that position.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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