This year saw a record amount of mergers and acquisitions in the crypto world, but those gains are now being shaken by the recent drop in digital asset prices which were boosted earlier by a more crypto-friendly US administration, a Bloomberg report said.
Riding that political momentum, big crypto companies pushed total deal value to more than $8.6 billion by November 20, the highest ever and more than the last four years combined, according to PitchBook, the report said. A separate report from Architect Partners, which measures deals differently, shows an even larger total: $12.9 billion so far this year, compared with only $2.8 billion the year before.
Crypto firms go on a buying spree in 2025
PitchBook analyst Ben Riccio told Bloomberg that major crypto companies have been far more active in buying other businesses this year. Lower interest rates, clearer rules, and a strong crypto market earlier in the year encouraged many firms to focus on expansion.
Large deals involving Coinbase, Kraken, and Ripple brought huge amounts of money into the sector. Much of this activity happened before a sharp drop in digital asset prices in October, which erased more than $1 trillion from the market.
The report added that some of the biggest purchases in 2025 include Coinbase buying the options exchange Deribit for $2.9 billion, Kraken acquiring the retail futures platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, and Ripple taking over prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. These major moves helped 2025 break the previous record set in 2021.
PitchBook data shows Coinbase has been the most active buyer in recent years, completing 24 deals since 2020 and eight of those in the past year. The overall number of crypto-related deals also hit a new record of 133, beating 2022’s total of 107 deals.
Market turns down as deal activity peaks
The Bloomberg report adds that prior to 2025, the industry’s busiest year for mergers and acquisitions was 2021, when companies spent $4.6 billion. This year, more supportive government policies under President Donald Trump helped boost market confidence and pushed cryptocurrency prices higher. Bitcoin even reached an all-time high of about $126,000 in October before the downturn began.
Since the October crash, the mood in the crypto world has shifted sharply. Publicly traded crypto companies have been hit hard. Coinbase, the biggest US crypto exchange, has lost about 20% of its value this quarter, although it is still slightly up for the year. American Bitcoin, a mining company with connections to the Trump family that went public in September, has dropped around 70% since the start of October.
Firms that primarily hold crypto on their balance sheets, especially those that went public through SPAC deals, are also starting to feel the strain.
Architect Partners, a crypto advisory firm, noted that it’s unclear how deal activity and company valuations will change if low prices continue. They also said some planned deals have already fallen apart because of market uncertainty.
