Summary
- The Financial Times reported that this year's cryptocurrency industry M&A volume was $8.6 billion, nearly quadrupling in a year.
- It said that funds raised through IPOs by crypto companies totaled $14.6 billion this year, about 47 times the previous year.
- An expert said that the U.S.'s new crypto legislation will spur traditional finance firms to enter the market and drive further M&A.
This year, the scale of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the cryptocurrency industry has nearly quadrupled compared with a year ago.
On the 24th (local time), the British financial newspaper the Financial Times (FT) reported that 267 M&A deals were completed in the cryptocurrency industry this year, an 18% increase from a year earlier.
M&A deal value this year was $8.6 billion (about 12.5 trillion won). Compared with last year ($2.17 billion), it jumped about fourfold.
The largest M&A this year was Coinbase's acquisition of Deribit. Deribit is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, which Coinbase bought for $2.9 billion on August 29. U.S. crypto exchange Kraken also acquired futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion in May.
IPOs by crypto companies were also active. According to the Financial Times, 11 crypto companies have listed on stock exchanges this year, including dollar stablecoin issuer Circle (USDC) and U.S. crypto exchange Gemini.
These companies raised $14.6 billion (about 21.2 trillion won) through IPOs. Compared with a year earlier ($310 million), this is about a 47-fold increase.
Crypto companies are expected to actively pursue M&A and IPOs next year as well. Charles Kerrigan, a partner at European law firm CMS, told the Financial Times, "New U.S. crypto legislation will encourage TradFi firms to enter the market and pursue M&A."
JOON HYOUNG LEE
gilson@bloomingbit.ioCrypto Journalist based in Seoul
