Bullish (NYSE:BLSH) shares were volatile on Thursday after the digital asset platform reported a complex fourth quarter: while core operational metrics hit record highs, the bottom line was hit by a substantial non-cash net loss related to the fair value accounting of its massive digital asset holdings.
The Cayman Islands-based company posted an IFRS net loss of $563.6 million, or $3.73 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2025.
This sharp reversal from the $158.5 million profit a year earlier was primarily driven by the "mark-to-market" accounting of the exchange's inventory.
Because Bullish maintains one of the industry's largest balance sheets of Bitcoin and other digital assets to power its automated market-making (AMM) liquidity, significant price fluctuations in the crypto market can create large, unrealized paper losses that mask the company's actual business performance.
Stripping away these accounting distortions, the company's "adjusted" results painted a picture of rapid institutional scaling.
Adjusted revenue surged 68% to $92.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA grew nearly 200% to $44.5 million.
This growth was fueled by a record quarter for Subscription, Services, and Other (SS&O) revenue—which includes the performance of its CoinDesk subsidiary and its burgeoning crypto options business.
Bullish options trading volume also surpassed $9 billion in the quarter, propelling the platform to the #2 spot globally for Bitcoin options open interest.
For the full year 2025, Bullish reported a total digital asset sales volume of $244.8 billion.
Despite the reported annual loss of $785.5 million, the company ended the year with over $181 million in cash and zero debt, providing a massive capital cushion as it prepares for a projected 2026 expansion into the U.S. institutional spot market.