Investment bank KBW initiated coverage of Bullish (BLSH), CoinDesk’s owner, with a market perform rating and a $55 price target, calling the stock a rare public play on a highly regulated, institution-first crypto exchange.

The bank sees near-term U.S. expansion as a catalyst for growth, with Bullish’s differentiated tech stack, competitive fees and deep liquidity positioning it to gain market share.

Bullish’s regulatory footprint, with licenses in Germany (MiCAR compliant), Hong Kong and Gibraltar, has drawn institutional traders and enabled a global order book linking Asian and European markets, analyst Bill Papanastasiou wrote.

KBW also highlighted Bullish’s work with Gibraltar regulators on a fully crypto-enabled clearinghouse as a sign of its credibility as a market infrastructure provider.

Beyond trading, Bullish has diversified its revenues through the acquisitions of CoinDesk and CCData, building recurring streams from data, indices and liquidity services, which KBW expects these to make up over 40% of revenue by FY27. The CoinDesk platform also offers optionality to reach retail users, which carry higher margins.

The bank sees U.S. market share gains ahead thanks to Bullish’s lower take rates (1.6bps vs. ~3bps for Coinbase) and strong liquidity.

A New York BitLicense approval remains a key milestone, but KBW expects a national rollout regardless.

While valuation keeps the rating neutral for now, the analyst noted upside potential if Bullish executes on its expansion plans and capitalizes on retail engagement.

The shares were trading flat at around $51.81 at the time of publishing.

Read more: Wall Street Sees U.S. Entry as Catalyst for Bullish’s Next Leg Up