tl;dr
The crypto industry hit a milestone with over $10 billion in mergers and acquisitions in Q3 2025, driven by regulatory reforms and strategic consolidations. Key deals like FalconX's acquisition of 21shares highlight the sector's rapid maturation and alignment with mainstream finance.
**Crypto Dealmaking Surpasses $10 Billion in Q3 2025 as Regulatory Shifts Fuel Mergers and Acquisitions**
The crypto industry witnessed a historic surge in dealmaking during the third quarter of 2025, with transactions exceeding $10 billion—a staggering 30-times increase from the same period in 2024. This record-breaking growth, highlighted in a report by Architect Partners, underscores a seismic shift in the sector’s trajectory, driven by regulatory reforms, strategic consolidations, and the race to secure a foothold in the evolving financial landscape.
At the heart of the quarter’s activity was FalconX’s acquisition of 21shares, a Swiss firm renowned for pioneering exchange-traded crypto products in Europe. The deal marks a pivotal moment for 21shares, which has chosen to relinquish its independence to expand its reach as crypto assets inch closer to mainstream financial integration. FalconX, valued at $8 billion during its 2022 funding round, has been aggressively scaling its operations through acquisitions, including the 2024 purchase of Arbelos Markets.
The surge in mergers and acquisitions follows a dramatic regulatory shift under former President Donald Trump’s administration, which reversed the stringent policies of the previous year. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), once a formidable barrier for crypto firms, has adopted a more cooperative stance, creating a pathway for legal expansion. Russell Barlow, CEO of 21shares, attributed the company’s accelerated growth to this regulatory pivot. “The policy change completely altered our timeline,” he said. “What we thought we could do in five years, we can now compress into two to three years.”
For years, 21shares thrived in Europe while the U.S. barred spot crypto ETFs. That changed in early 2024 when the Biden administration lifted the ban, forcing European firms to contend with American titans like BlackRock and Fidelity. These giants swiftly dominated the market with low-cost Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, amassing over $173 billion in combined assets. BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF alone now manages $87 billion, while 21shares oversees $11 billion across its 50-plus products. The FalconX acquisition provides 21shares with the infrastructure and capital needed to compete in this high-stakes environment.
Despite the merger, 21shares will retain its 100-person team and operate independently, with plans to launch 18 new U.S. funds this year and expand into the Middle East and Asia. Both companies also aim to explore tokenized bonds and equities, leveraging blockchain technology to streamline institutional trades and reduce costs.
The trend of consolidation is accelerating, with other major deals shaping the sector. Coinbase’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, Ripple’s $2 billion buys of Hidden Road and GTreasury, and CoreWeave’s $9 billion offer for Bitcoin mining giant Core Scientific highlight the industry’s rapid maturation.
Experts note that this wave of mergers is pushing crypto firms to vertically integrate, controlling more of their value chains. Karl-Martin Ahrend, co-founder of investment bank Areta, observed, “Market makers, custodians, and infrastructure players are moving closer to the end investor as ETFs and regulation open new channels for institutional capital.”
The frenzy is also spurring fundraising efforts. Circle, issuer of the second-largest stablecoin, raised $1.1 billion in June, while Gemini secured $425 million in September. These moves reflect growing concerns over competition from traditional financial giants like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Stripe, and Revolut, which are poised to enter the crypto space with substantial resources.
As the industry navigates this transformative phase, the $10 billion Q3 milestone signals a new era of innovation and consolidation—a testament to the resilience and adaptability of crypto firms in an increasingly competitive and regulated landscape.