Crypto Industry Records $8.6 Billion in Deals in 2025 Amid Trump-Era Optimism

In 2025, the crypto industry achieved a remarkable year for mergers, acquisitions, and public listings, with total dealmaking reaching $8.6 billion. This surge was largely driven by a more favorable regulatory environment in the United States, rekindling interest from investors and financial institutions.

Key Takeaways:

In 2025, crypto dealmaking soared to $8.6 billion, attributed to regulatory easing in the US that revived both investor and institutional interest.
Major acquisitions by Coinbase, Kraken, and Ripple contributed significantly to the rise in mergers and acquisitions in the crypto space.
The initial public offering (IPO) market for crypto also saw a strong recovery, raising $14.6 billion globally, compared to previous years.

According to a report by the Financial Times, a total of 267 crypto-related deals were finalized by Tuesday this year, which represents an 18% increase compared to 2024. The total deal value experienced a nearly 300% increase over last year’s $2.17 billion, and experts predict this momentum will carry into 2026 as regulatory clarity improves across important jurisdictions.

Crypto Industry Records $8.6 Billion in Deals in 2025 Amid Trump-Era Optimism

Coinbase’s $2.9 Billion Deribit Acquisition Leads Record Year for Crypto M&A

The largest transaction of the year was Coinbase's acquisition of the crypto options exchange Deribit for $2.9 billion. This record-setting deal is now the biggest acquisition ever documented in the digital asset sector.

Other significant transactions included Kraken’s $1.5 billion acquisition of the futures trading platform NinjaTrader and Ripple’s $1.25 billion purchase of the crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road.

Industry leaders attribute the renewed wave of dealmaking to policy shifts initiated during President Donald Trump's administration, which rolled back stringent enforcement actions and adopted a more lenient stance towards digital assets. This change has encouraged traditional financial institutions that were previously hesitant to enter the space, thus paving the way for strategic investments and consolidation.

Beyond mergers and acquisitions, 2025 also experienced a robust Initial Public Offering (IPO) market for cryptocurrencies.

The Financial Times reported that 11 crypto IPOs raised an impressive total of $14.6 billion globally, marking a stark increase from the $310 million raised through four listings in 2024. Noteworthy debuts included Bullish, the parent company of CoinDesk, which raised $1.1 billion; stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group, bringing in over $1 billion; and the crypto exchange Gemini, which raised $425 million.

Regulatory Clarity and MiCA Compliance Drive Crypto Dealmaking

Legal professionals suggest that regulatory alignment plays a pivotal role in many of these transactions.

Diego Ballon Ossio, a partner at Clifford Chance, highlighted that both crypto-native firms and traditional financial institutions are acquiring companies for their licenses, especially those compliant with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. He also noted that interest in stablecoin-related businesses is expected to continue into 2026 as new regulations emerge in the US and UK.

Charles Kerrigan, a partner at CMS, informed the Financial Times that firms are ready to invest significantly to remain compliant, frequently opting to acquire companies as a means of quickly securing regulatory approvals. He anticipates that upcoming US crypto legislation will attract even more traditional finance institutions, further solidifying the current trend of consolidation.

This surge in corporate activity occurs despite a cooling of market prices towards the end of the year. Bitcoin, for instance, has dropped over 30% from its early October peak of more than $126,000 and was trading just below $88,000 at the time of publication, based on market data.