Key Points

• Bullish was overwritten for the first time by StoneX with a target price of $42.
• After acquiring Equiniti, Bullish will be able to connect with thousands of listed companies.
• Solana, Ethereum and Aptos constitute the underlying network of the Bullish tokenized securities strategy.

Bullish ( NYSE : BLSH ) reached the target price of $42 set by StoneX Financial on November 9th. Analysts stated that the $4.2 billion Equiniti acquisition being pursued by this cryptocurrency exchange could change its position in the rapidly developing tokenized stock market.

StoneX Analyst Mark Palmer has overruled Bullish for the first time, giving a 'Buy' rating. He pointed out that Equiniti currently maintains business relationships with nearly 3,000 listed company issuers and 20 million shareholders. Based on the stock price used in the analyst's assessment, a target price of $42 implies approximately 97% upside potential, although this is still a forecast and not a guarantee of returns.

At the time of this recommendation, Bullish is expanding beyond cryptocurrency trading into the field of regulated financial infrastructure. Previously, the company had announced related tokenization acquisition plans.

The $4.2 billion transaction involving Bullish may reshape the system of stock ownership.

According to the acquisition agreement reached in May, Bullish will acquire Equiniti for approximately $2.35 billion in stock consideration, as well as by assuming $1.85 billion of existing debt.

Equiniti processes approximately $500 billion in payments each year and provides support for around 15,000 corporate clients. Its share transfer agency service is responsible for maintaining the official shareholder register and assisting in the completion of ownership changes.

StoneX estimates that Equiniti serves approximately 30% of the companies comprising the S&P 500 index, as well as half of the companies in the FTSE 100 index.

But this does not mean that Bullish will own shares in these companies. On the contrary, this acquisition may make it an infrastructure provider responsible for maintaining ownership records when securities are migrated to the blockchain.

This difference is important, as tokenized stocks still require legally recognized ownership records, corporate action processing procedures, and compliance processes.

Solana, Ethereum and Aptos are incorporated into the Bullish tokenization strategy

Bullish has already demonstrated how the infrastructure planned by them might operate.

At an event on the New York Stock Exchange on October 27th, Bullish and Equiniti transferred 61 million reserved shares of Bullish onto Solana, and completed the demonstration within a few seconds.

On November 3rd, Bullish announced that in addition to Solana, it also plans to support Ethereum and Aptos, allowing issuers to choose the network of their preference.

However, this demonstration does not equate to the unrestricted public trading of these reserved shares having already commenced.

Bullish's strategy has entered a market that is becoming increasingly competitive. Galaxy Digital and other listed companies are also exploring blockchain-based direct stock holding models.

Can tokenization support the restoration of the Bullish stock price?

The logic behind being bullish on Bullish is that Equiniti can not only bring in mature service revenues but also open up new opportunities in token issuance, settlement, and company action processing.

Bullish reports that adjusted revenue for the second quarter was 92.6 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 62%; of which, subscription, service, and other revenues amounted to 62.7 million US dollars.

However, as exchanges and fintech companies develop their own tokenized securities platforms, competition is intensifying.

This emerging market has already supported considerable Solana trading activity, but the trading volume does not necessarily translate into sustainable revenue from infrastructure costs.