A wave of mergers and acquisitions is sweeping the crypto industry: giants are snapping up bargains as the Web3 ecosystem is being restructured.

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 mergers and acquisitions are happening almost daily. Kraken acquired futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, and Coinbase recently made consecutive moves to acquire derivatives exchange Deribit and on-chain fundraising platform Echo. According to RootData, the number of crypto mergers and acquisitions has reached 143 so far in 2025, not only breaking historical records but also increasing by 93% compared to the same period last year.

Why are giants so keen on mergers and acquisitions in the current sluggish market? What impact will the accumulation of mergers and acquisitions have on the market? I. Giants are trading capital for time. Mergers and acquisitions are the most direct means for giants to expand their battlefield and enhance their competitiveness. In the past few years, giants, represented by centralized exchanges, have mostly made a good living from transaction fees. However, after the secondary market turned bearish and regulations became stricter, simple transaction revenue was difficult to support growth, and external Web2 giants were eyeing the market. Therefore, they began to expand their battlefield through acquisitions—either to fill gaps in their ecosystem or to acquire compliance resources. Through mergers and acquisitions, giants can skip the long period of independent R&D and market cultivation, quickly bringing competitors or complementary teams under their wing, thereby expanding their product matrix in a short time, such as from spot trading to derivatives, from trading to payment and custody, and improving the service capabilities of their entire product stack. More importantly, by purchasing entities with regulatory approvals or well-established compliance structures, giants can more quickly obtain "identity" for entering certain markets (such as licenses, compliance processes, or clearing channels in specific jurisdictions), saving time and costs compared to building their own compliance teams. This is especially important in the increasingly regulated and geographically diverse world of crypto. Take Coinbase as an example. Since 2025, its M&A strategy has been almost "full-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're aiming for is a 'Goldman Sachs-like' empire in the crypto world—not relying on coin prices, but on their service system." Kraken's actions follow a similar logic. NinjaTrader is a veteran player in traditional finance; Kraken's acquisition of it essentially buys a compliant channel recognized by US regulators, allowing them to bring traditional futures clients and tools into their ecosystem. In the future, Kraken will no longer need to take roundabout routes to provide more comprehensive derivatives and futures trading services.

Recent M&A Events Source: RootData

In other words, while small projects are still struggling with their next round of financing and token issuance, giants are already using cash to buy time and acquisitions to secure their future.

II: Is the Golden Age for Web3 Builders Here?

In the past, the main exit path for many Web3 projects was "token issuance—price increase—buyback/cash out." This path is highly dependent on secondary market sentiment and easily swayed by price fluctuations. Mergers and acquisitions provide projects with a more stable alternative: integration by strategic buyers within or outside the ecosystem, obtaining cash/equity, or being incorporated into the product lines of larger platforms for continued development. This allows teams and technologies to have a smoother path to capitalization, without having to pin all their hopes on the "vampire-sucking" process of token issuance and exchange listing.

Mergers and acquisitions by Coinbase, Kraken, and others have, to some extent, broadened the ways in which Web3 projects and teams can realize their value. In the current capital winter, this has also given a strong boost to the primary market equity sector of crypto, bringing confidence to more crypto entrepreneurs.

The rise of mergers and acquisitions in the crypto industry is not accidental, but rather a result of market maturity, capital structure restructuring, and the combined effects of regulation and user demand. Mergers and acquisitions allow for a faster reallocation of technology, users, and compliance capabilities within the crypto market. Leading companies use mergers and acquisitions to consolidate and expand their competitive advantages, while for smaller projects, they provide a more stable exit and development path. In the long term, this wave of mergers and acquisitions is expected to incentivize many crypto projects to evolve from technical communities or marketing companies into truly commercial companies with clear user scenarios and solid technology, focusing their attention back on product experience, compliance, and commercialization. Undoubtedly, this is beneficial to the long-term healthy development of the industry and accelerates its mainstreaming process. Of course, mergers and acquisitions are not a panacea. Giants still face many uncertainties, such as integration—how to integrate the acquired company's strengths into its organization, products, compliance, and customer base. Poor integration often means "buying an empty shell." There's also the possibility of valuation bubbles, negatively impacting the acquiring company's cash flow and profitability. Regardless, this is a significant boon for crypto entrepreneurs and the long-term crypto ecosystem. The market will provide a more favorable environment for projects that diligently cultivate technology and application scenarios. Questions like "How do we exit if you don't issue a token?" will gradually disappear from the minds of entrepreneurs and builders; their golden age is approaching. The crypto industry in 2025 is at such a turning point. Rather than a capital game, it's an essential step towards the maturity of the crypto industry. In the coming years, we may see: exchanges no longer just exchanges, but like one-stop financial supermarkets; wallets no longer just wallets, but on-chain financial gateways for users; stablecoins no longer just stablecoins, but underlying currencies for cross-border instant settlement. And all of this began with this wave of mergers and acquisitions.