Crypto M&A Surges as Startups Become Targets—and Buyers

Last month, San Francisco-based checkout software startup Bolt announced that it was acquiring crypto and blockchain software startup Wyre for $1.5 billion. The deal got us thinking about the rise of mergers and acquisitions involving crypto startups since 2020. (Bolt, meanwhile, is facing challenges including declining revenue growth, my colleague Malique Morris has reported in this humdinger of a story.)

The chart above shows the global, quarterly amount spent on M&A for deals involving crypto companies that disclosed the deal amount, according to data firm Crunchbase. As the red bars show, the demand from a range of companies to acquire crypto companies skyrocketed last year as banks and other companies looked to buy their way into the booming crypto industry. The $2.7 billion in total deal value for 2021 is 17 times the $157 million in 2020.