Mergers and acquisitions will grow in 2025

In 2024, the cryptocurrency market recorded 248 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions, lower than the peak of 271 in 2022.

However, experts predict 2025 will see a new wave of M&A. This wave is driven by many factors coming from both the crypto market and the traditional tech “big guys”.

One of the most important factors is greater clarity on the legal framework. Regulatory uncertainty in 2024 has made many companies wary of pursuing M&A deals. However, given the positive signals about the regulatory environment in 2025, it is expected that companies will be more confident in their acquisitions and mergers.

In addition, crypto's bullish market is attracting renewed interest from traditional technology companies (web2). These companies often choose to acquire existing crypto companies instead of building their own from scratch due to a lack of resources in terms of expertise and technology.

It is impossible not to mention the natural consolidation that is taking place in the market. After the FTX shock of 2022, many crypto startups have difficulty raising capital, forced to seek consolidation to survive and thrive.

In addition, in the context of a growing market, crypto startups can use M&A as a strategy to scale up, reach new markets, and accelerate growth.

M&A activity is not merely a change in terms of ownership, but also has tremendous implications for both companies and markets.

For companies, M&A can help scale operations, access new technologies, increase competitiveness and optimize resources.

For the market, M&A contributes to the promotion of innovation, creativity, increased competitiveness and the creation of new development opportunities. At the same time, M&A can also lead to a concentration of market share, creating new “big men” with great influence on the market.

Against this backdrop, experts from many leading venture capital funds have made many predictions about the crypto M&A picture in 2025, including:

• Dragonfly anticipates the growth of M&A in the exchange, brokerage, cryptocurrency mining and data supply sector. Large companies in these areas are actively looking for potential acquisition targets. The stablecoin/payments sector is expected to have at least one “unicorn” deal in 2025, although the general trend is for companies to build their own platforms or collaborate instead of acquisitions.
• Hack VCEmphasizing the return of web2 companies and the growth of on-chain M&A. On-chain M&A can help revitalize projects and tokens, while benefiting token holders.
• Galaxy Ventures believes that fintech, banking and tech companies will be the main drivers of crypto M&A in 2025. The stablecoin and payments sector will be at the heart of M&A deals due to the direct impact on fintech business.
• Portal Venturesalso agree with the view that fintech will lead the wave of crypto M&A. The hedge fund predicts large companies in the crypto sector such as Chainalysis will acquire smaller companies.
• Blockchain Capital The merger is expected to take place across multiple sectors, with the participation of both traditional crypto and fintech companies.
• Pantera Capitalexpect to see “major acquisitions” in 2025, as crypto companies actively seek to acquire rivals and consolidate their position in the market.

As such, 2025 is predicted by many companies to be an exciting year for M&A activity in the cryptocurrency sector. The combination of factors such as a clearer regulatory environment, returning interest from web2 companies, and the need for growth through M&A will create a strong wave of consolidation, contributing to reshaping the crypto market in the future.