Shares of the crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH 12.36%) traded 8% higher as of 10:18 a.m. ET today. The move comes after the company reported second-quarter earnings results yesterday, received a license to operate in the U.S., and also received positive sentiment from Wall Street.

Entry into the U.S.

Bullish went public in August and was received extremely well. Shares priced at $37 but soared all the way to $118 on day one of trading. Since then, shares have struggled and trade around $57.50, which isn’t necessarily bad when you consider what the IPO priced at, but it’s also a common tale in an enthusiastic IPO market that has awoken after several years of limited activity.

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In the second quarter, Bullish reported net income of about $108 million on adjusted revenue of $57 million. Trading volume reached nearly $180 billion in the quarter, up about 35% year over year. Bullish is also guiding for net income between $12 million and $17 million in the third quarter and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of about $26.5 million at the midpoint of its guidance, which would be up significantly from the $8.1 million it reported in the second quarter.

Perhaps more importantly, Bullish obtained a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services, which will allow the exchange to operate in the U.S. Bullish is only the third company to receive both a BitLicense and New York Money Transmitter License since 2023. Following this news, analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Bullish to $59 and maintained an overweight rating on the stock.

Still a monster valuation

Trading at an $8.6 billion market cap, Bullish still trades at extremely high multiples any way you choose to value the company. I’m also not a huge fan of this space because it is so heavily dependent on crypto volume, which is swayed by the gyrations of the crypto market. For this reason, I plan to avoid the stock.