What Are Crypto Giants Building?

Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched a sweeping wave of lawsuit withdrawals targeting crypto companies—cases against Kraken, Consensys, Cumberland, Ripple, Robinhood, and Nova Labs have all been dropped. Paul Atkins has officially taken office as the new SEC Chair and declared that establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets will be a “top priority,” signaling a complete shift from the previous closed and high-pressure regulatory approach. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice clarified that crypto developers are not liable if their code is used by criminals.

Clearly, regulatory clarity and easing are propelling crypto firms into a new era of rapid growth.

Right now, U.S. crypto companies are experiencing a boom in IPOs and M&A activity. Over a dozen firms are racing to go public during this market window. Additionally, more and more projects are pursuing exits via mergers and acquisitions. Since November 2024, there have been more than 10 M&A deals per month for five consecutive months. Mega-deals are becoming frequent, with acquisition amounts hitting record highs in crypto history. The market is moving into a phase of consolidation and institutionalization. All-in-one, integrated, platform-based crypto giants are starting to emerge.

So what exactly are these crypto giants building—and what does it mean for the future of the crypto market?

IPO Boom: Seizing the Market Window

2021 was a highlight year for the crypto industry. Fueled by Bitcoin’s price surge, a low interest rate environment, and the SPAC craze, multiple crypto companies sought to go public via IPOs or SPACs to raise capital and expand their market influence. On April 14, 2021, Coinbase’s successful listing on Nasdaq was seen as a milestone in crypto’s mainstream adoption. However, not all crypto firms were as fortunate. Circle, Kraken, Ripple, BlockFi, and eToro had IPO or SPAC plans in 2021, but many were shelved due to regulatory uncertainty and market volatility.

In the second half of 2024, Trump’s election reopened the IPO window for U.S. crypto companies. Several firms have already gone public in the U.S. Coincheck, a Japanese crypto exchange, completed its merger listing on December 11, 2024. Fold Holdings went public via SPAC merger on February 19 on Nasdaq. Amber PremiumAmber, the digital wealth management platform under Amber Group, also completed its merger listing in March.

Crypto companies like Circle, eToro, and Kraken, which had previous IPO plans, are now seizing this window to move forward. Circle, eToro, Bgin Blockchain, Chia Network, Gemini, and Ionic Digital have submitted S-1/F-1 filings and are likely to list in Q2 2025. BitGo, Kraken, Bullish Global, Consensys, Figure, Chainalysis, and Blockchain.com have all expressed IPO intentions or are in advisory negotiations, showing strong listing potential in 2025–2026.

The detailed progress is shown in the chart below:

M&A Heats Up as the Crypto Market Enters a Phase of Consolidation and Institutionalization

Recently, M&A activity in the crypto market has been heating up. Amid a downturn in the primary investment market, more projects are seeking exits through acquisitions, while leading players are increasingly willing to use M&A within reasonable valuation ranges to optimize their industrial layout and expand influence.

According to RootData, there have been over 40 M&A deals in the past three months, with most acquirers being U.S.-based crypto companies. Since November 2024, the number of monthly M&A deals has exceeded 10 for five consecutive months. Mega-deals have become frequent, with transaction values consistently breaking historical records in the crypto space.

Crypto M&A Trends Since 2020 (Data Source: RootData)

In the past six months, all M&A deals exceeding $1 billion have taken place in the U.S.:

• In December 2024, traditional payments giant Stripe acquired stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion
• In March 2025, Kraken acquired U.S. futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion
• In April 2025, Ripple acquired crypto-friendly brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion

In addition, Coinbase is in advanced talks to acquire Deribit, which is valued between $4 billion and $5 billion. BitMEX, the crypto derivatives platform founded by Arthur Hayes, is also seeking a buyer. If the Deribit and BitMEX deals close, M&A volumes are likely to reach new records.

According to analysts at Bernstein, as exchanges and broker-dealer models begin to converge, the crypto industry is evolving toward integrated, all-in-one multi-asset investment platforms. For example, Kraken acquired NinjaTrader, Robinhood is integrating Bitstamp, and Coinbase is in deep negotiations to acquire Deribit. Deribit’s BTC and ETH options markets see monthly trading volume over $100 billion, accounting for around 70% of the market, with crypto futures monthly trading volume at approximately $45 billion. A Deribit acquisition would enable Coinbase to expand into the derivatives space—particularly options—and directly compete with Binance in global crypto derivatives.

Beyond options and derivatives, crypto exchanges are also expanding into traditional asset classes. On April 14, Kraken launched stock and ETF trading in the U.S. for the first time. On April 12, several SEC commissioners voiced support at the second digital asset roundtable for establishing a digital asset regulatory sandbox. This would allow crypto exchanges like Coinbase to freely experiment in new areas, including offering tokenized securities trading. In the future, crypto exchanges are expected to offer spot crypto, crypto derivatives, tokenized stocks, as well as traditional stocks and stock derivatives. Meanwhile, brokerage platforms like Robinhood are further expanding into crypto and crypto futures.

As traditional assets become tokenized, the line between crypto tokens and equities is increasingly blurred. The roles of digital asset securities, tokenization, and intermediaries will become more defined. The overlap between crypto exchanges and brokerages will grow, and traditional finance and crypto firms will merge further. U.S. crypto companies are starting to resemble Fintech firms more than pure crypto players.

Crypto Firms Pivot Toward Institutional Services

The crypto-friendly policies under the Trump administration lowered entry barriers for institutions. The U.S. OCC approved blockchain-native lending licenses (such as Figure Technologies), encouraging participation from traditional banks. Since 2024, institutional services—including digital asset custody, tokenization, payment settlement, derivatives trading, and compliance solutions—have become major profit drivers in the crypto industry.

At the same time, due to the lack of new narratives in the crypto space to attract retail users, crypto institutions, including exchanges, have seen rising user acquisition costs on the retail side. As a result, crypto firms that comply with U.S. regulations have increasingly shifted focus to institutional services.

Coinbase moved early to reduce its reliance on retail trading by developing its institutional services. Its trading revenue—especially from retail—has declined year over year, with retail trading fees accounting for 70%, 65%, and 52.7% of revenue in 2022, 2023, and 2024 respectively. Meanwhile, revenue from subscriptions and services (targeted at institutions) has steadily risen: 17.8%, 22.6%, and 34.8% over the same period.

As of 2024, Coinbase had $220 billion in assets under custody, up 100% YoY, primarily serving institutional clients such as hedge funds and ETF issuers. Over the past year, Coinbase became the main custodian for spot Bitcoin ETFs.

If Coinbase completes its acquisition of Deribit, it will not only expand its global derivatives market presence but also strengthen its institutional service offerings. In 2024, Deribit’s trading volume nearly doubled as institutional demand for complex financial instruments surged. Its institutional client base and advanced tools (like options and futures) will boost the appeal of Coinbase Prime. Recently, Coinbase Prime also extended $200 million in credit to Nasdaq-listed mining firm CleanSpark, whose digital asset management team has launched an institutional-grade Bitcoin asset management platform.

Exchanges like Kraken and Gemini are taking similar steps. Kraken’s acquisition of U.S. retail futures platform NinjaTrader was aimed at expanding both its derivatives market competitiveness and institutional service capacity. In April, Kraken also announced a partnership with Beeks Exchange Cloud to launch custody services later this year. Meanwhile, Gemini has expanded its institutional services into Europe and Canada by offering USD payment support.

Ripple recently spent $1.25 billion acquiring crypto-friendly brokerage Hidden Road to deepen its institutional offerings. Hidden Road is a one-stop service platform that connects large institutional investors—like Jump Trading, market makers, and hedge funds—to exchanges for fund transfers, borrowing, and clearing.

Ripple’s core business is cross-border payments, but its ecosystem depends heavily on self-built networks and strategic alliances, revealing clear bottlenecks. In June last year, Ripple also acquired New York crypto trust company Standard Custody & Trust Company, enabling it to offer crypto custody and settlement services.

Tokenization Expansion

Behind crypto firms’ shift toward institutional services is the rapid growth of the tokenization market.

Recently, Ripple and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released a report titled Approaching the Tokenization Tipping Point, which made a key projection: the tokenized assets market is expected to surge from $600 billion in 2025 to $18.9 trillion by 2033, with a CAGR of 53%.

Tokenization refers to the process of using blockchain infrastructure to record ownership and transfer assets such as securities, commodities, and real estate. Key application scenarios include trade finance, collateral and liquidity management, investment-grade bonds, private credit, and carbon markets.

Notably, unlike how the Chinese-speaking crypto community often separates stablecoins and the RWA sector, this report includes stablecoins within the broader scope of asset tokenization—a territory U.S. crypto companies are fiercely competing over. Kraken’s co-CEO recently stated that tokenized equities may surpass stablecoins in scale.

Three crypto firms—Figure, Fireblocks, and Securitize—that made the Forbes 2025 Fintech 50 list are all engaged in the tokenization business, including real estate, bonds, and equity tokenization.

Figure Technologies, leveraging its proprietary Provenance blockchain, provides HELOCs, payment solutions, and asset tokenization services. It has also launched its own tokenized assets. On February 20, the SEC approved the application for a “yield-bearing stablecoin” named YLDS, developed by Figure Markets (a Figure subsidiary). YLDS is pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, registered with the SEC as a public security, offers yield, and currently delivers an annualized return of around 3.85%. YLDS falls under the same asset class as stocks and bonds.

Fireblocks focuses on the secure storage, transfer, and issuance of digital assets, serving financial institutions, exchanges, payment platforms, and Web3 firms. In September 2023, it acquired tokenization firm BlockFold for $13.6 million to strengthen its tokenization services for large banks and financial institutions. Since 2024, Fireblocks has rapidly expanded globally, launching operations in countries including Germany, France, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan.

Securitize gained broader visibility through its collaboration with BlackRock on the tokenized asset BUIDL. It offers end-to-end services covering fund management, token issuance, brokerage, transfer agency, and alternative trading systems. On April 15, Securitize announced the acquisition of MG Stover’s fund administration business. Its subsidiary, Securitize Fund Services (SFS), thereby became the world’s largest digital asset fund administration platform. This acquisition “solidifies Securitize’s position as an institutional-grade integrated platform for tokenization and fund management.”

Alongside its IPO plans, Circle is also targeting a larger share of the tokenization market.

Circle’s IPO S-1 filing reveals that 95% of its revenue comes from short-term U.S. Treasury yields, while its core business lines—transaction fees, cross-chain bridges, and wallets—generate minimal income. In addition to its dependence on interest rates, high compliance and distribution costs have eaten into its revenue.

Recently, Circle acquired Hashnote and its tokenized money market fund USYC. Hashnote is a regulated institutional investment management platform incubated by Cumberland Labs (the blockchain arm of DRW), focused on serving institutions with tokenized money market funds (USYC), custom investment strategies, on-chain asset management, and custody services.

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