‘Massive consolidation’ expected across crypto industry: Bullish CEO

Bullish CEO Tom Farley, the former president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has strongly predicted a period of “massive consolidation” across the digital asset industry. Farley asserted that the current market environment, characterized by a persistent crypto winter and heightened regulatory scrutiny, is forcing a natural cleansing process that will see many firms fail or merge.

Speaking on the state of the industry, Farley noted that the euphoria and easy access to cheap capital that fueled the 2020-2021 bull run have disappeared. The macroeconomic shift toward higher interest rates globally has dramatically curtailed funding for unprofitable or poorly capitalized crypto projects, forcing unsustainable business models to collapse.

According to Farley, this consolidation will manifest primarily through bankruptcies and acquisitions, ultimately leaving a far smaller, yet more robust, ecosystem. The firms that survive will be those that have focused diligently on regulatory compliance, robust balance sheets, and offering transparent, trustworthy services—particularly those catering to institutional investors.

Bullish, which operates a digital asset exchange and is backed by significant capital, aims to be one of the key survivors in this restructuring phase. Farley emphasized that the industry needs to move away from centralized, opaque entities that operate outside established regulatory frameworks toward compliant infrastructure that traditional finance can trust.

While the contraction and failures are painful in the short term, the Bullish CEO views this consolidation as a necessary maturation phase. The outcome, he suggests, will be an industry that is significantly smaller in terms of the number of players but fundamentally sounder and better positioned for long-term growth and eventual mainstream adoption.

Source: ‘Massive consolidation’ expected across crypto industry: Bullish CEO