The crypto industry closes the year with a record $8.6 billion in mergers and acquisitions, according to the FT, up sharply from $2.17 billion the year before.
The deal’s rise comes amid a major political shift in Washington, where the Trump administration has bolstered the sector with a series of legislative developments that include the GENIUS Act, which created a federal framework for stablecoins and paved the way for institutions to settle tokenized assets.
White House support helped create 267 deals, an 18% jump from 2024, the story continued.
The biggest deal of the year was Coinbase’s $2.9 billion purchase of crypto derivatives platform Deribit, marking the biggest M&A move in the sector’s history.
Kraken’s $1.5 billion purchase of NinjaTrader and Ripple’s $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road followed close behind.
However, it is not just about the White House. At least some of the purchases, legal experts say, have been driven by a race for licenses.
As new compliance rules take hold globally, including those around stablecoins and the EU’s MiCA framework, financial institutions are buying firms with approved licenses to accelerate their entry into crypto markets.
