Soon after Block.one’s initial coin offering, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the company with selling unregistered securities. The parties reached a settlement in September 2019 in which Block.one agreed to pay a $US24 million penalty without admitting or denying any wrongdoing, the regulatory agency said in a statement.
The EOS token currently trades at about 57 cents, down from its high of $US18.87 at the time of the 2018 offering, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Kokuei Yuan, who early served as Block.one’s executive chairman, keeps a lower profile.Credit: Bloomberg
When Block.one launched Bullish, it initially seeded it with about $US10 billion in assets, including 164,000 Bitcoin. After operating it as a subsidiary, Block.one eventually reduced its equity stake to below 50 per cent in July 2024.
Bullish has since become a major crypto exchange, handling $US1.25 trillion in total transactions through March 31, according to a regulatory filing. It offers spot, margin and derivatives trading, with the latter two products offered only to non-US investors. Its chief executive officer is Tom Farley, 49, former president of the New York Stock Exchange, who owns a stake worth $US437 million, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.
In November 2023, Bullish acquired CoinDesk, a provider of crypto news and data, from Barry Silbert-backed Digital Currency Group in an all-cash transaction for $US72.6 million.
Bullish has sold off a significant portion of the seed investment it received from Block.one. It still held more than 24,000 Bitcoin worth in excess of $US1.7 billion as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing, as well as $US144 million in dollar-denominated stablecoins.
Bullish is backed by billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel.Credit: Bloomberg
Global citizen
Blumer, who grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, moved to Hong Kong in 2005 and relinquished his US citizenship in 2020. Before getting involved with crypto, he started a business at age 15 selling in-game digital assets for online games including World of Warcraft. After selling that company, he started Okay.com, a Hong Kong-based property agency.
In a filing last month, Bullish disclosed that it had taken over from Blumer the purchase of a $US5 million luxury condo still under development in the Cayman Islands, intending to use the property as office space.
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Earlier this year, Blumer purchased a villa on the Sardinian coast for about €170 million ($304 million), local publication I’Unione Sarda reported in March. The transaction is one of the largest residential deals in Italian history.
Kokuei Yuan, who early served as Block.one’s executive chairman, keeps a lower profile. He graduated from Tufts University with degrees in economics and studio art and previously worked as an investment banker at CLSA, according to a filing. He helped found Okay.com, the Hong Kong-based property firm, with Blumer.
Bloomberg
