Bullish appoints Thomas Cowan as Head of Tokenization
Bullish appointed Thomas Cowan as Head of Tokenization to lead its strategy for tokenized securities. Cowan joins from Galaxy, where he led the firm's institutional tokenization business. The appointment supports Bullish's pending acquisition of Equiniti and recent regulatory approval from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission.
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Bullish appointed Thomas Cowan as Head of Tokenization to lead the company's strategy for tokenized securities. Cowan will leverage Bullish's regulated exchange infrastructure, CoinDesk's market data and indices services, and the pending acquisition of Equiniti’s global transfer agent and registry capabilities. The move aims to establish Bullish as the market infrastructure for tokenized securities.
Cowan joins Bullish from Galaxy, where he led the firm's institutional tokenization business. He pioneered the initiative behind Galaxy becoming the first Nasdaq-listed company to tokenize its stock on a major U.S. blockchain in partnership with Superstate. The direct issuance structure without a special purpose vehicle was developed with input from regulators and has become a template for compliant onshore equity tokens.
Strategic Initiatives
During his tenure at Galaxy, Cowan led several key initiatives:
- Galaxy's tokenized liquidity fund partnership with State Street Investment Management.
- The tokenization of the firm’s first collateralized loan obligation.
- The founding of Euro stablecoin issuer AllUnity (EURAU), where he served as a board member of the joint venture with Flow Traders and DWS.
Prior to Galaxy, Cowan worked in stablecoin strategy at Paxos and at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on Project Hamilton, the Fed's joint digital currency initiative with MIT.
Leadership Commentary
"Thomas is a key addition to our team as we build the infrastructure for tokenized securities across the Bullish platform," said Tom Farley, Bullish CEO. "His track record structuring and launching tokenization initiatives, combined with a deep understanding of market structure, will be instrumental as Bullish works to create the new standard for tokenized securities."
"I’m excited to be joining Bullish at a time when tokenization is becoming increasingly embedded in financial infrastructure," said Thomas Cowan, Head of Tokenization. "Bullish has assembled the core components needed across the full tokenization lifecycle including a regulated exchange, the pending acquisition of global transfer agent Equiniti, and recent regulatory approval from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) to offer tokenized securities trading."
Recent Developments
The appointment follows a series of strategic moves by Bullish:
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | Acquisition Agreement | Bullish agreed to acquire Equiniti (EQ) in a $4.2 billion transaction. |
| June 2026 | Regulatory Approval | Bullish received GFSC approval to offer trading in tokenized securities. |
| January 2027 | Expected Close | The Equiniti transaction is expected to close, subject to conditions. |
The combined platform is designed to span the full lifecycle of a tokenized security, from issuance and registry through to trading. The GFSC approval allows Bullish to offer the benefits of tokenization to eligible non-U.S. investors while maintaining regulatory oversight.
How will the integration of Equiniti’s transfer agent capabilities specifically streamline the issuance process for new tokenized securities?
What is the timeline for launching the first tokenized security products following the expected close of the Equiniti acquisition?
Will Bullish pursue similar direct issuance structures for U.S. equities as Cowan pioneered at Galaxy, or focus initially on non-U.S. investors?
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