The encryption industry is experiencing a wave of mergers and acquisitions: giants are buying the dip, and the Web3 ecosystem is being restructured.

null

Author: Gu Yu, ChainCatcher

The crypto world in 2025 is witnessing an unprecedented wave of mergers and acquisitions.

From DeFi protocols to asset management companies, from payment companies to infrastructure service providers, new merger and acquisition events occur almost daily. Kraken swallowed the futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, while Coinbase has recently made consecutive moves to acquire the derivatives exchange Deribit and the on-chain fundraising platform Echo. According to RootData, the number of crypto mergers and acquisitions reached 143 from 2025 to date, not only setting a historical record but also increasing by 93% compared to the same period last year.

Why are giants keen on mergers and acquisitions in the current sluggish market? What impact will the accumulation of mergers and acquisitions have on the market?

1. Giants exchange capital for time

Mergers and acquisitions are the most direct means for giants to expand their battlefield and enhance competitiveness.

In the past few years, the giants of centralized exchanges that relied on tokens have generally fared well thanks to trading fees. However, with the secondary market turning bearish and regulations tightening, simple trading income is no longer sufficient to support growth, and external Web2 giants are eyeing the space. As a result, they have begun to expand their battlefield through acquisitions—either to fill ecological gaps or to acquire compliance resources.

Through mergers and acquisitions, giants can bypass the long periods of independent research and development and market cultivation, quickly bringing opponents or complementary teams under their wing, thereby expanding their product matrix in a short time, for example, extending from spot trading to derivatives, and from trading to payment and custody, enhancing the service capabilities of their full-stack products.

More importantly, by acquiring entities that have already received regulatory approval or have a more robust compliance framework, platforms can more quickly obtain the “identification” needed to enter certain markets (such as licenses, compliance processes, or clearing channels in specific jurisdictions), saving more time compared to building their own compliance teams. This is especially important in the increasingly stringent and geographically diverse world of cryptocurrencies.

Taking Coinbase as an example. Since 2025, its merger and acquisition strategy has been almost “whole-chain”: from derivatives exchanges to on-chain financing platforms, and then to compliant custody companies, covering multiple aspects such as trading, issuance, payment, and asset management. An industry insider close to Coinbase revealed: “What they want to create is the 'Goldman Sachs map' in the crypto field—relying not on coin prices, but on the service system.”

Kraken's actions follow a similar logic. NinjaTrader is an old player in the traditional financial sector, and by acquiring it, Kraken has effectively obtained a compliance channel recognized by U.S. regulators, which allows it to bring traditional futures clients and tools into its ecosystem. In the future, Kraken will no longer need to take detours and can provide more comprehensive derivatives and futures trading services.

Recent M&A events Source: RootData

In other words, while small projects are still struggling with the next round of financing and token issuance, the giants are already exchanging cash for time and acquisitions for the future.

This trend is not only being participated in by giants like Coinbase, but also by Web2 titans such as Robinhood, Mastercard, Stripe, and SoftBank. This means that Web3 is no longer just a game for entrepreneurs and retail investors; it is attracting deep involvement from traditional capital, financial institutions, and even publicly listed companies. Mergers and acquisitions have become the bridge for them to enter Web3.

Moreover, the current market conditions also provide an important opportunity for them to increase their merger and acquisition investments. At present, the primary cryptocurrency market continues to be sluggish, with the vast majority of crypto projects facing challenges in financing and exiting, putting them at a disadvantage in the capital market. Therefore, giants with ample cash or access to capital market channels can leverage their capital advantage to dominate merger pricing and structural design. For sellers, accepting equity swaps, a combination of cash + stock, or strategic cooperation in the transaction structure is often more prudent than taking a risky approach by issuing tokens in the public market. As a result, capital-heavy players have a natural advantage in merger negotiations, allowing them to acquire key technologies, users, and licenses at a more favorable cost.

II: Is the golden age of Web3 builders coming?

In the past, the main exit path for many Web3 projects was “issuing tokens - price increase - buyback/cash out”. This path heavily relies on the sentiment of the secondary market and can easily be hijacked by price fluctuations. Mergers and acquisitions provide project teams with a more stable path: being integrated by strategic buyers from within the ecosystem or outside the industry, obtaining cash/equity, or being incorporated into the product line of a larger platform for continued development. This allows teams and technologies to have a smoother capital exit without having to place all their hopes on the “vampiric” process of token issuance and price increases.

The mergers and acquisitions of Coinbase, Kraken, and others have, to some extent, broadened the ways in which Web3 projects and teams can realize value. In the current capital winter, this has also injected a dose of confidence into the equity field of the primary crypto market, bringing more confidence to crypto entrepreneurs.

The rise of mergers and acquisitions in the cryptocurrency industry is not accidental, but rather the result of market maturity, restructuring of capital, and the combined influence of regulation and user demand. Mergers and acquisitions allow for the faster reconfiguration of technology, users, and compliance capabilities within the cryptocurrency market. Leading companies use mergers and acquisitions to strengthen and expand their moats, while for small and medium-sized projects, mergers and acquisitions provide a more stable exit and development path.

In the long term, this wave of mergers and acquisitions is expected to motivate many crypto projects from the technical community or marketing companies to develop into truly commercialized companies with clear user scenarios and solid technology, focusing attention back on product experience, compliance, and commercial implementation. Undoubtedly, this is beneficial for the long-term healthy development of the industry and accelerates the mainstreaming process of the industry.

Of course, mergers and acquisitions are not a panacea. Giants still face many uncertainties in this process, such as integration, how to incorporate the strengths of the acquired party into the acquirer at the levels of organization, products, compliance, customers, etc. If the integration is not smooth, it often means “buying a shell”; for example, there may also be valuation bubbles, which can negatively impact the cash flow and profitability of the acquirer.

Regardless, this is a significant positive development for crypto entrepreneurs and the long-term crypto ecosystem. The market will provide a friendlier living space for projects that are genuinely focused on technology and applications. Questions like “How can we exit if you don't issue tokens?” will gradually cease to linger over the heads of entrepreneurs and builders; their golden era is about to arrive.

The cryptocurrency industry in 2025 is at a turning point. Rather than being a capital game, it is more of an inevitable path towards maturity for the cryptocurrency industry.

In the coming years, we may see: exchanges no longer just being exchanges, but rather a one-stop financial supermarket; wallets not just being wallets, but the user's on-chain financial entry; stablecoins not merely being stablecoins, but the underlying currency for cross-border instant settlement.

And all of this started with this wave of “merger frenzy.”