Crypto mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity rose to 248 deals in 2024, up from 221 in 2023, according to The Block Pro data. While improved, it remains below 2022's all-time high of 271 deals, signaling steady yet restrained growth.

"M&A was still quite muted in 2024, with a lot of companies and protocols unsure of what the future regulatory environment could look like," Rob Hadick, general partner at Dragonfly, told The Block. "With that said, most of the potential acquirers were crypto natives, who often wanted to use their own bloated valuation marks from 2021 to acquire companies with their equity consideration, especially as most are not cash-rich. That meant that while there were a lot of conversations on M&A activities, ultimately very few transacted outside of Stripe-Bridge."

Ed Roman, co-founder and managing partner of Hack VC, echoed similar sentiments, noting that in 2021, venture capital investors heavily invested in crypto. However, many of those startups struggled to raise funds after the bear market triggered by the FTX bankruptcy in 2022, leading to natural consolidation.

Looking ahead to 2025, venture capital firms anticipate a more active crypto M&A landscape driven by a maturing market, increased regulatory clarity and renewed interest in crypto from fintech and web2 companies. Here's what top crypto VCs shared with The Block about their M&A outlook for the new year.

Dragonfly predicts 2025 will "absolutely be a more active year" for crypto M&A but warns against viewing the recent Stripe-Bridge deal as a broader market trend. "The Stripe-Bridge transaction was idiosyncratic and is unlikely to be copied," Rob Hadick, general partner at Dragonfly, told The Block.

Hadick expects the stablecoin/payments sector to see fewer major M&A deals, projecting that many payment service providers will build their own platforms or form partnerships instead of pursuing acquisitions. Still, he foresees at least one unicorn-sized deal announcement in that sector in 2025.

Exchanges, brokerages, miners and data providers are the key sectors primed for consolidation, according to Hadick. "Many of the largest companies in those categories have been kicking the tires of potential targets who may be interested in being acquired, but few were serious about really driving forward that consolidation and paying up for that privilege until now," he said.

Hack VC anticipates more large-scale acquisitions in 2025, driven by the likely return of web2 companies interested in crypto due to the ongoing bull market. "Those web2 buyers were missing-in-action for the last few years due to the NFT crash and FTX crash, but we expect them to return now that crypto is in-season again," Ed Roman, co-founder and managing partner at Hack VC, told The Block. "They often lack internal expertise or technology, so it's easier to buy versus build."

On-chain M&A is another area Roman finds particularly compelling. "On-chain mergers can revitalize tokens and breathe new energy into projects, as well as consolidate efforts to achieve a larger outcome for token holders," Roman said.

He also notes that with the current bull market, crypto startups are finding it easier to raise funds, reducing the number of "forced exits" from startups running out of runway. Instead, M&A in 2025 is likely to focus on deals designed to accelerate growth, he said.

Galaxy Ventures predicts a surge in crypto M&A activity in 2025, driven by the return of fintechs, banks, and tech companies to the crypto space. "The Stripe-Bridge acquisition is a harbinger of M&A activity, for sure," Galaxy Ventures' general partner, Will Nuelle, told The Block. "Stablecoins and payments practically impact real fintech businesses and so we expect M&A to primarily occur there," Nuelle said. "Areas like staking, DeFi, and CeFi still are parallel to fintech/banking rather than intersecting."

Nuelle also anticipates initial public offering (IPO) activity to resume as regulatory clarity improves in the U.S., creating more opportunities for crypto companies to access public markets.

Portal Ventures also sees fintech as the primary driver of crypto M&A in 2025. "It's hard to be a fintech investor today and ignore crypto," Evan Fisher, founder and general partner at Portal Ventures, told The Block.
Within crypto, Fisher expects some established players like Chainalysis to acquire smaller firms.

Blockchain Capital expects crypto M&A activity to increase in 2025, following the uptick in 2024. "We've seen a lot of proliferation across categories in the last few years and therefore expect some consolidation, as well as catching up by traditional fintech players looking to offer crypto products in the coming years," Kinjal Shah, general partner at Blockchain Capital, told The Block.

Lauren Stephanian, general partner at Pantera Capital, told The Block that she expects "some large acquisitions" in 2025.

"Strategics have been building up their war chests while treasuries have ballooned in size with the increase in token prices," Stephanian said. "Many companies and protocols are now looking to absorb their competition and bolster their output in this market."

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Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

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