Bullish to Buy Equiniti for $4.2B to Enable 24/7 Token Trading

Bullish agreed to acquire transfer agent Equiniti from Siris Capital for $4.2 billion and will assume $1.85 billion of Equiniti’s debt. The parties expect the transaction to close in January 2027, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

Equiniti services nearly 3,000 companies, including Berkshire Hathaway and Rolls-Royce. As a transfer agent, Equiniti maintains shareholder records, issues ownership certificates and processes dividend payments-functions that support corporate actions and investor recordkeeping.

Bullish intends to use Equiniti’s infrastructure to offer continuous, round-the-clock trading of tokenized securities and to provide stablecoin-based payment and settlement capabilities tied to those tokenized assets.

The acquisition gives Bullish direct access to back-office systems used for recordkeeping, corporate actions and dividend distribution, which market platforms need to align onchain trading with traditional corporate workflows.

Tokenized securities are digital representations of traditional assets recorded on a blockchain. Tokenized stocks can allow trading outside standard market hours and can enable fractional ownership; several exchanges and market operators are developing related services.

Other recent industry developments include a New York Stock Exchange partnership to enable minting of tokenized shares, a proposal from the Intercontinental Exchange for a venue supporting 24/7 trading and instant settlement with stablecoins, and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approval of a Nasdaq pilot to list and trade tokenized versions of high-volume stocks.

Onchain data show the total value of tokenized stocks rose about 31% over a recent 30-day period to roughly $1.25 billion, while the number of tokenized stock holders increased about 10% over the same span. The broader tokenized real-world assets market is estimated at about $30 billion, with tokenized U.S. Treasury debt at roughly $15.2 billion, tokenized commodities around $5 billion, asset-backed credit near $2.5 billion and specialty finance products at about $1.6 billion.

Further details on integration plans and product rollouts are expected as Bullish and Equiniti advance regulatory filings and complete customary approvals.