Equiniti to anchor Bullish’s $4.2Bn tokenized securities play
GEORGE TOWN, CAYMAN ISLANDS — Equiniti, the global transfer agent and shareholder services business process outsourcing (BPO) provider, will be acquired by Bullish in a US$4.2 billion transaction, the institutional digital asset platform announced from George Town, Cayman Islands.
According to a press release, Equiniti serves nearly 3,000 issuer clients, 15,000 total corporate clients, and more than 20 million shareholders, processing approximately US$500 billion in annual payments through its regulated outsourcing platform.
The deal positions Equiniti’s BPO infrastructure as the foundation for the first fully integrated, blockchain-enabled blue-chip issuer services provider, setting up a generational shift in capital markets infrastructure.
Equiniti’s BPO backbone powers the combined platform
Equiniti delivers a broad suite of business process outsourcing services that listed companies depend on, including transfer agent operations, shareholder recordkeeping, corporate actions processing, dividend and payment services, registry management, and regulatory compliance support.
Its SEC-registered transfer agent status and FCA-regulated UK operations give the combined entity the regulatory footing needed to layer Bullish’s tokenization, token issuance, compliance, and liquidity capabilities on top of trusted issuer relationships.
Equiniti will operate under the Bullish umbrella alongside Bullish Exchange and CoinDesk, with CEO Dan Kramer and the existing leadership team retaining responsibility for day-to-day operations and client relationships.
“Equiniti sits at the heart of global capital markets, supporting clients who rely on resilient and trusted infrastructure,” said Dan Kramer, CEO of Equiniti.
He added that the deal “strengthens our ability to support clients as markets evolve, while maintaining the stability, service, and trust they expect from Equiniti.”
A generational shift built on regulated infrastructure
The combined platform addresses what executives describe as a foundational gap in market infrastructure: the absence of a transfer agent built for blockchain.
Stablecoins have grown to over US$300 billion in reported market capitalization and an estimated $10 trillion in annual payments volume in roughly a decade, signaling demand for regulated infrastructure capable of supporting tokenized securities at institutional scale.
The pro forma combined company expects approximately US$1.3 billion in adjusted total revenue and over $500 million in adjusted EBITDA less Capex for 2026, with 20% projected revenue growth from tokenization and blockchain services through 2029.
“Tokenization is a once-in-a-generation shift in how capital markets operate, the defining infrastructure trend of the next 25 years,” said Tom Farley, CEO of Bullish.
He added that institutional-scale adoption requires “end-to-end tokenization services, a single, unified ledger, and a broad base of blue-chip issuer relationships, at scale.”
The deal underscores an accelerating shift across the financial outsourcing industry, where BPO providers including Computershare, Broadridge, and SS&C are racing to integrate blockchain and digital asset capabilities into traditional shareholder services.
As issuers and institutional investors demand modernization without sacrificing regulatory rigor, regulated transfer agents with deep BPO infrastructure are emerging as the strategic gateway to tokenized capital markets.
