According to the FT, the crypto industry is set to end the year with a record $8.6 billion in mergers and acquisitions, up from $2.17 billion a year ago.
This surge in transactions comes amid a major policy shift in Washington, where the Trump administration has supported the sector with a series of regulatory developments, including the GENIUS Act, which created a federal framework for stablecoins and paved the way for financial institutions to settle tokenized assets.
White House support facilitated 267 deals, an 18% increase from 2024, the story continued.
The biggest deal of the year was Coinbase's $2.9 billion acquisition of crypto derivatives platform Deribit, making it the largest M&A move in the industry's history.
Kraken's $1.5 billion acquisition of Ninja Trader and Ripple's $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road followed.
However, that's not all about the White House. Legal experts say at least some of the purchases are due to the licensing rush.
As new compliance regulations such as stablecoins and the EU's MiCA framework take hold globally, financial institutions are acquiring companies with approved licenses to accelerate their entry into the crypto market.
