The State of Crypto Acquisitions in Four Charts
Over $2 billion in acquisitions occurred in crypto in 2024, with $2.9 billion and counting this year. We analyzed the numbers and trends to understand how M&A in this space is evolving. Our latest newsletter dives deep into the data, strategies, and motivations behind this wave, and what founders can do to position themselves as acquisition targets. Here's the TL;DR version for those in a hurry.
Venture funding for crypto has declined by 70% from its 2021 peak, with annual inflows dropping from $23B to $6B. The number of funding rounds has plummeted from 941 in Q1 2022 to just 182 in Q1 2025. This capital drought is forcing us to look at M&A for continued growth.
Just like traditional markets, M&A in crypto has followed waves that have coincided with liquid markets.
• Wave 1 (2017–2018): The ICO era
• Wave 2 (2020–2022): Treasury-Fueled Acquisitions
• Wave 3 (2024–2025+): The Compliance & Scalability Phase
The data reveals a maturing market. While acquisition volume has decreased since 2022’s peak, average deal size increased from $25M in 2022 to $64M in 2025, showing a shift to fewer but larger, more strategic deals.
Target categories have evolved meaningfully. Recent acquisitions concentrated on derivatives venues, broker rails, and stablecoin infrastructure, which absorbed over 75% of disclosed deal value since 2024. This reflects regulatory clarity emerging in these verticals.
Cash-rich incumbents like Coinbase ($9B cash), Kraken ($454M operating profit), and Stripe ($2B FCF) are leading this wave, pursuing strategic acquisitions that provide regulatory footholds, talent, and technology integration.
Here’s a breakdown of who is acquiring. In 2021–22, exchanges led the charge by acquiring infrastructure, wallets, and liquidity layers to defend market share. By 2023–24, the baton had passed to payment companies and financial tooling platforms, targeting downstream products like NFT rails, brokers, and structured product infrastructure. But with changing regulations and an underserved derivatives market, exchanges like Coinbase and Robinhood are making a comeback as acquirers, scooping up derivatives and brokerage infrastructure.
We categorize crypto acquisitions into four broad, overlapping models:
1. Talent Acquisition — When deep technical talent is scarce and recruitment cycles are slow, acquisitions become a faster route to capability. Instead of hiring one-by-one, acquirers bundle proven, high-performing teams. Think Coinbase acquiring Agara to bring in AI engineering talent, or @0xPolygon acquiring Mir (now @0xPolygonZero) and Hermez to absorb leading ZK cryptographers. The logic is simple: shipping teams are more valuable than resumes.
2. Capability Expansion — Some acquisitions are designed to extend a firm’s product suite or move it into new domains. Jupiter’s acquisition of Drip Haus is a case in point—moving from DeFi into NFTs to tap into creator-led attention markets. These acquisitions add missing features or open up verticals that would take too long to build internally.
3. Infrastructure Distribution – These deals are about embedding core tooling deeper into the acquirer’s stack to harden defensibility. For example, ConsenSys acquiring MyCrypto enhanced MetaMask by bringing in a different UX approach and long-tail asset support. Rather than reinventing the wheel, incumbents fold external innovations into their existing infrastructure.
4. User Base Acquisitions – This is the most direct route to scale. OpenSea acquiring Gem wasn’t just about tech—it was about locking in high-value NFT traders. In environments where user growth is slow and expensive, acquiring established communities with strong engagement and spending power offers faster ROI than marketing or incentive campaigns.
The funding environment today demands pragmatism. For founders, the pitch must now answer two questions: why should we raise and why might someone want to buy this?
Venture capital is no longer flowing freely. The standout raises we hear about are exceptions, not indicators of a comeback. Most funds are focusing on products with traction, revenue, and provable value. That makes acquisition a serious alternative to another uncertain fundraising cycle.
At the same time, acquirers are more strategic than ever. They’re using acquisitions to enter new markets, gain licenses, absorb users, or compress years of development into a single transaction. If what you’ve built simplifies compliance, unlocks distribution, or accelerates product-market fit, you're already on someone’s radar.
This era of crypto will be defined by what lasts. And increasingly, what lasts is what gets acquired.
Build like your future depends on someone wanting to own what you've made. Because it probably does.
HuobiGlobal