Brendan Blumer, Chairman of of Bullish and Tom Farley, CEO of Bullish, Bullish a cryptocurrency exchange operator, pose with staffs during the company's IPO at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., August 13, 2025.
The Bullish IPO this week took on added significance, perhaps because of the company name.
When shares of the Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency exchange more than doubled out of the gate on Wednesday before finishing the day up 84%, it was the latest sign that the tech IPO bulls are back in business.
In July, design software vendor Figma more than tripled in its New York Stock Exchange debut, and a month earlier shares of crypto firm Circle soared 168% in their first day on the Big Board.
Wall Street has been waiting a long time for this.
Three years ago, steep inflation and soaring interest effectively closed the market for public offerings. Tech stocks tanked and private capital dried up, forcing cash-burning startups to turn their attention away from growth and toward efficiency and profitability.
The roadblock appeared to be loosening earlier this year, when companies like StubHub and Klarna filed their prospectuses, but then President Donald Trump roiled the markets in April with his plans for sweeping tariffs. Roadshows were put on indefinite hold.
The president's tariff agenda has since stabilized a bit, and investor money is pouring into tech, pushing the Nasdaq to record levels, up more than 40% from this year's low in April. Optimism is growing that the hefty backlog of high-valued startups will continue to clear as CEOs and venture capitalists gain confidence that the public markets will welcome their top-tier companies.
Ahead of Figma's debut, NYSE president Lynn Martin told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" that immense demand for that offering could "open the floodgates" for the rest of the market. And earlier this week, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman told "Fast Money" that there's a "very healthy list" of companies looking to IPO in the second half of this year, ahead of the holiday season.
"I've been meeting a lot of CEOs, getting them prepared to think about what they want in the public markets and where they're going," Friedman said.
There are more than two-dozen venture-backed U.S. tech companies valued at $10 billion or more, according to CB Insights. StubHub has updated its prospectus, suggesting an offering is coming soon.
"The IPO window is open," said Rick Heitzmann, a partner at venture firm FirstMark, in an interview with CNBC's "Closing Bell" this week. "You've seen across industry, broad-based support for IPOs, and therefore, we're advising companies we're investing in to get ready and go public."