FT: "Coinbase's Deribit acquisition boosted trading volume by $8.6 billion."
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According to the FT, as of the 24th, a total of 267 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions were completed in the cryptocurrency industry. This represents an approximately 18% increase compared to the same period last year. The transaction volume surged approximately 300% from the previous year's $2.17 billion (KRW 3.1083 trillion).
The biggest deal of the year was Coinbase's acquisition of Deribit. Coinbase acquired Deribit, a cryptocurrency options trading platform, for $2.9 billion (KRW 4.15396 trillion), marking the largest M&A in cryptocurrency history. This deal is considered a symbolic example of the surge in cryptocurrency M&A this year.
Additionally, Kraken acquired futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion (KRW 2.1483 trillion). Ripple signed a deal to acquire cryptocurrency-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $150 million (KRW 199.5 billion).
The Financial Times cited the pro-cryptocurrency policies of the Donald Trump administration as the reason for the surge in cryptocurrency M&A. The Trump administration maintained a deregulatory stance and withdrew cryptocurrency-related lawsuits, which is believed to have lowered the psychological barriers for traditional financial institutions to enter the cryptocurrency industry.
The cryptocurrency initial public offering (IPO) market is also recovering rapidly. The FT reported that 11 cryptocurrency IPOs worldwide this year raised a total of $14.6 billion (KRW 20.92 trillion). This represents a significant increase compared to the $310 million (KRW 444.199 billion) raised through just four IPOs last year.
This year's major cryptocurrency IPOs included Bullish, the exchange and parent company of CoinDesk, raising $1.1 billion, stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group raising over $1 billion, and cryptocurrency exchange Gemini raising $425 million.
Diego Ballรณn Ossio, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance, told the Financial Times that both traditional financial firms and cryptocurrency companies are aggressively pursuing acquisition strategies to secure regulatory licenses. He predicted that the acquisition race for companies compliant with the EU's Market in Cryptocurrencies Act (MiCA) will likely continue into next year.
Charles Kerrigan, a partner at CMS, also predicted that the trend of expanding cryptocurrency M&A will continue for the time being, saying, "Companies will not spare any expense, including acquisitions, to respond to the new regulatory regime."
Reporter Jeong Ha-yeon yomwork8824@blockstreet.co.kr
