Bullish Acquires Equiniti for $4.2B

Crypto exchange Bullish agreed to acquire the U.K.-based transfer agent Equiniti for $4.2B in the day's most consequential deal, while Coinbase announced the elimination of roughly 700 positions citing AI productivity gains and bitcoin squeezed through $81,000 for the first time since January on $532M of spot ETF inflows. Strategy holds center stage after the close, reporting Q1 FY26 results with its bitcoin purchase program on pause. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with "Crypto Currents," daily from The Fly. Join us at 2 PM ET for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio.BULLISH BUYS EQUINITI:reported that Bullish(BLSH)agreed to acquire U.K.-based issuer-services firm Equiniti in a $4.2B transaction composed of approximately $2.35B in Bullish stock priced at a 30-day VWAP of $38.48 per share and $1.85B of assumed debt, with a targeted close in January 2027.Bloomberg Lawnoted the combined entity is targeting approximately $1.3B in pro-forma adjusted revenue for FY26, and management is billing the result as the first fully integrated blockchain-enabled issuer-services platform.Equiniti operates in the shareholder record-keeping, proxy administration, and dividend disbursement space, providing infrastructure that underpins the equity operations of hundreds of listed companies globally. The acquisition pivots Bullish from pure-play exchange into traditional capital markets plumbing, handing Bullish shareholders direct exposure to a recurring-revenue financial infrastructure business while putting the firm on a collision course with entrenched transfer-agent incumbents.COINBASE WORKFORCE CUTS:reported that Coinbase(COIN)will eliminate approximately 700 positions, roughly 14% of its global workforce, with restructuring charges of $50M-$60M concentrated in Q2 FY26, per anSEC filing. CEO Brian Armstrong announced the reductions via X, attributing the decision to crypto market volatility and AI-driven productivity gains that allow smaller, flatter teams to operate at greater scale. Coinbase shares rose approximately 4% in pre-market trading following the disclosure.The restructuring charge is a near-term earnings headwind ahead of Coinbase's Q1 FY26 report, due May 7 after the close, but the margin trajectory of a leaner, AI-augmented cost structure is the more durable signal for consensus models. The May 7 release will be the first opportunity to test whether Armstrong's productivity thesis maps to measurable operating leverage.STRATEGY EARNINGS TONIGHT:Strategy(MSTR)is due to report Q1 FY26 financial results after market close today, followed by a 5:00 PM ET conference call. The company confirmed that it paused bitcoin purchases this week ahead of the release, temporarily removing the market's most consistent institutional buyer from the spot tape. Strategy holds 818,334 bitcoin at an average acquisition cost of $75,537 per coin, and its STRC preferred shares are currently trading below the $100 par value, a condition that constrains fresh at-the-market capital raises under the existing structure.BITCOIN ETF FLOWS:U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs absorbed net inflows of $532M, led by BlackRock's(BLK)iShares Bitcoin Trust at $335M and Fidelity's FBTC at $184M. Bitcoin simultaneously broke above $81,000 for the first time since January, driven by a short squeeze that forced liquidation of an estimated $180M in bearish perpetual futures positions stacked above $78,785. On-chain analyst 'Murphy', viaLookonchain, noted that approximately 423,000 bitcoin traded in the $78,000 cluster with an unfilled on-chain gap remaining at $81,000 to $82,000 and and institutional wallet activity near $83,000-$84,000 that the analyst characterizes as non-resistant consolidation, with the next meaningful supply cluster above $87,000, a constructive backdrop for miner margins at, a framework with direct margin implications for miners MARA Holdings(MARA), Riot Platforms(RIOT), CleanSpark(CLSK), and Iren(IREN).TOKENIZATION AND STABLECOINS:Figure Technology(FIGR)willwork with OpenWorld to tokenize OpenWorld's equity securities on Figure Technology Solutions' Onchain Public Equity Network ahead of OpenWorld's proposed Nasdaq listing, a real-world asset transaction that places on-chain equity issuance on a direct path to a major U.S. exchange. Global market maker Virtu Financial(VIRT)joined the zerohash liquidity network as a market-making partner,expanding institutional access to crypto, stablecoin, and tokenization services for zerohash's financial institution clients. PayPal(PYPL)alsofiled Q1 FY26 earnings this morning, covering financial performance across consumer and merchant platforms including its PYUSD stablecoin and integrated crypto trading services.MINING AND HARDWARE:Cipher Digital(CIFR)reported Q1 FY26 results before market open today,submitting two filings with the SECcovering bitcoin mining operational and financial results for the period ended March 31, 2026. At the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas, ASIC manufacturer BGIN Blockchain(BGIN)unveileda commemorative prototype miner "PortableBTC"alongside its institutional 4nm BT1 chip program.PRICE ACTION:As of time of writing, bitcoin(BTC-USD)was trading at$81,270.04, while etherwas trading at$2,377.33,according to price data from TipRanks.