Block.one raised $4.1B from EOS buyers, purchased 164,000 Bitcoin, and IPO’d Bullish at $10B. Right here’s what really occurred to the funds.
A market observer has shared a narrative that reads extra like a monetary thriller than a blockchain mission.
Between June 2017 and June 2018, Block.one ran the biggest preliminary coin providing in crypto historical past. The Cayman Islands firm raised $4.1 billion in ETH from retail buyers for its EOS token.
Buyers believed they had been funding the following Ethereum killer. What they really funded was one thing else fully.
How Block.one Used EOS ICO Funds to Construct a Bitcoin Fortune
When the crypto winter hit in 2018, Bitcoin crashed onerous. Costs fell to round $3,200. Whereas panic swept via the market, Block.one CEO Brendan Blumer was shopping for.
In keeping with commentator Farea on X, Block.one transformed a big portion of the $4.1 billion into Bitcoin. The corporate accrued roughly 164,000 BTC at a mean value close to $6,000. That’s roughly $1 billion spent on Bitcoin alone. The remaining went into U.S. authorities bonds.
a person raised $4.2B from crypto buyers, purchased 164,000 Bitcoin at $6,000 with their cash, and IPO’d a $10B firm
and buyers received nothing
– CEO of Block(dot)one
– the corporate behind EOS
– ran the most important ICO in crypto historical pastJune 2017 to June 2018
— Farea (@FareaNFts) March 3, 2026
By 2021, that Bitcoin stash had grown to a worth of $10 billion. The cash buyers thought was going towards a decentralized blockchain ecosystem had constructed one of many largest company Bitcoin treasuries on this planet.
The EOS blockchain did launch, however the relationship between investor funds and ecosystem growth raised severe questions.
The SEC High quality and What Occurred Subsequent
The U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee took discover.
In 2019, the SEC fined Block.one $24 million for conducting an unregistered securities providing. For a corporation that raised $4.1 billion, that high-quality labored out to lower than 0.6% of complete proceeds. No funds had been returned to buyers.
Blumer and Block.one paid the penalty and moved on.
Block.one had additionally promised to take a position $1 billion again into the EOS ecosystem. Critics and former supporters say that dedication was by no means absolutely honored.
The EOS token underperformed towards the broader crypto market. Block.one progressively stepped again from the mission. The group responded with lawsuits and sophistication motion claims which are nonetheless working via the courts at the moment.
Associated Studying: Crypto Alternate Bullish Goals for $4.23B Valuation in IPO
Bullish IPO Turns Bitcoin Treasury Right into a Public Firm
Blumer didn’t cease after the SEC settlement.
He used the Bitcoin treasury to seed a brand new enterprise: Bullish, a crypto change. He contributed 164,000 BTC, $100 million in money, and 20 million EOS tokens as beginning capital.
Peter Thiel, Mike Novogratz, and Japanese financial institution Nomura joined as buyers, including $300 million extra. Former New York Inventory Alternate president Tom Farley got here aboard as CEO. The full beginning steadiness sheet exceeded $10 billion.
In August 2025, Bullish listed on the NYSE underneath the ticker BLSH. The corporate raised $1.1 billion at $37 per share.
On its first day of buying and selling, shares surged between 84% and 160%, closing close to $68 to $70. The market cap hit over $10 billion nearly instantly.
Blumer, who retained a 26% to 30% stake within the firm, turned a billionaire. The funds that retail crypto buyers contributed again in 2017 had accomplished a journey most of them by no means anticipated.