A record $8.6bn worth of crypto deals were struck in 2025, as the US government’s openness to digital assets ushered in a wave of mergers and acquisitions that is expected to continue into next year. The influx of capital globally has been fueled by US President Donald Trump’s administration, which this year made crypto a national priority and championed the industry by appointing friendly regulators, dropping high-profile lawsuits against digital asset companies and launching a national crypto reserve, among other actions. “It’s been the busiest year for us in crypto deals by a mile,” said Charles Kerrigan, partner at law firm CMS. He and others expect acquisitions to continue next year as new crypto rules come into force in the US, encouraging more traditional financial institutions to get involved in the sector and allowing crypto companies to consolidate their positions.
The record dealmaking comes despite a disappointing end to the year for crypto assets. Bitcoin has fallen from its record high of nearly $126,000 a token in early October and is now trading around $90,000. “We’re in the midst of lots of transactions and . . . the move from $120,000 to $90,000 has done nothing to derail those conversations,” said Eric Risley, founder of crypto advisory firm Architect Partners. Overall this year, 267 deals were reached across the crypto industry, an 18 per cent rise compared with 2024, according to PitchBook data up to December 23.
The deals totalled $8.6bn in value, nearly four times the amount last year when $2.17bn worth of deals were struck. US crypto exchange Coinbase made the biggest acquisition of 2025 when it bought derivatives venue Deribit for $2.9bn, the industry’s largest-ever acquisition. Other big deals include crypto exchange Kraken’s purchase of US retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5bn, and payments group Ripple’s acquisition of crypto prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25bn. Multiple crypto companies, including the Winklevoss twins’ exchange Gemini, stablecoin issuer Circle and Peter Thiel-backed venue Bullish, launched initial public offerings this year, capitalising on the demand from investors for crypto stocks. Overall, $14.6bn was raised from 11 crypto IPOs worldwide, according to PitchBook, compared with $310mn raised from four crypto listings in 2024.
Diego Ballon Ossio, partner at Clifford Chance, said traditional financial groups and crypto companies had been active in snapping up deals this year. Buying companies for their licences — which demonstrate compliance with national or regional rules, such as the EU’s 2023 Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation — has been a key driver and is expected to continue into 2026. “Traditional financial players realise this asset class is here to stay and they need to get their business into that … so they just need to acquire,” he said. Stablecoins in particular burst into the mainstream in 2025 and demand for stablecoin companies is expected to continue into next year, as landmark US rules overseeing the sector come into force, along with new rules in the UK. Kerrigan at CMS said there were “huge waves” of investing in 2025 and that, next year, companies “will have to spend a lot of money to remain compliant with the new licensing regimes”, including through acquisitions.
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