The company's $280 million second-quarter net loss was driven largely by a $244.6 million markdown on the value of its bitcoin holdings.

Bullish (BLSH), the cryptocurrency platform and parent company of CoinDesk, saw its shares surge 14% on Thursday after reporting that subscription, services and other revenue reached a record $62.7 million in the second quarter, offsetting softer trading conditions across digital asset markets. The stock traded at $24.45 and climbed as high as $28.20 during the session, nearly 14.5% higher on the day and the biggest single-day gain since Feb. 9, when shares rose 17%.

The rally came despite Bullish posting a net loss of $280 million for the quarter, compared with a $108.3 million profit in the year-earlier period. The loss was primarily attributable to a writedown on the value of the company's bitcoin holdings. Bitcoin fell 14% during the second quarter and has lost around half of its value since setting a record high of nearly $125,000, which it reached in early October. The resulting markdown on Bullish's bitcoin holdings produced a $244.6 million charge, the main contributor to the quarterly loss. That charge is an accounting markdown on the value of a held asset rather than a cash outflow, which is why the headline net loss and the quarter's adjusted profitability pointed in opposite directions.

The results cap a volatile first year as a public company. Bullish went public exactly one year ago, with shares reaching a peak of $118 before losing as much as 83% of their value as bitcoin retreated from the record high it hit shortly after the listing.

On an adjusted basis, the quarter showed underlying strength. Bullish posted adjusted second-quarter EPS of $0.09, in line with analysts' forecasts. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) more than tripled to $29.5 million, and adjusted net income rose to $14.3 million from a year-earlier loss of $6 million, the company said in its earnings release. Adjusted revenue increased 62% to $92.6 million, as growth in subscriptions and services offset weaker trading activity. Adjusted transaction revenue climbed to $29.9 million from $24.1 million, while digital asset sales slid 44% to $32.6 billion from $58.6 billion. Revenue at crypto trading platforms has historically moved with digital asset prices, as trading activity and the value of coins held on balance sheets rise and fall with the market. Subscription and services income carries no direct dependence on trading volumes, which is how a record result in that category cushioned a quarter of shrinking digital asset sales.

The second quarter also saw Bullish announce the $4.2 billion acquisition of share registration and transfer agency Equiniti, a deal intended to help the company expand into tokenized securities, extending a crypto platform into the infrastructure of conventional securities markets. According to Thursday's earnings announcement, the acquisition is on course to be completed in early 2027. That closing, along with whether subscription and services growth continues to offset soft digital asset markets, frames the company's storyline heading into next year.