Hi! Eric here. 

Coinbase buying early–stage crypto investing platform Echo for $375 million this week highlights two things: first, the competition is heating up. Second, the number of mergers and acquisitions in the space is about to skyrocket.

That’s according to Wyatt Lonergan, general partner at VanEck Ventures, who told DL News that crypto startups no longer just compete within the “pretty small space” of digital assets firms, but now also against financial multi-billion-dollar behemoths.

Competing in a small space is “a lot different than if you're competing with the 100 billion pound gorilla,” Lonergan said.

What’s changed? Well, everything. 

US President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies have softened regulators’ policing of the industry and paved the way for industry-friendly laws. 

At the same time, companies like stablecoin issuer Circle and crypto exchange Gemini have raised billions of dollars in their initial public offerings.

The combination of these factors has incentivised Wall Street giants and fintechs to muscle into crypto like never before. They’ve launched new services and recruited new talent to better compete.

Both traditional finance firms and crypto ventures alike are scooping up smaller startups that provide everything from payments to custody and infrastructure.

This growing competition means that industry native firms and outside ventures alike are actively acquiring smaller firms, essentially outbuying the competition. Thus, the surge in M&As. 

Stripe, Kraken, Robinhood, and Ripple are just some of the big players that have announced acquisitions in 2025.

Over 200 such deals worth about $20 billion have already been announced this year, Karl-Martin Ahrend told DL News in September. He expected those figures to grow to $30 billion across 400 deals in 2025.

Things are looking bullish.

CZ Biden’s ‘war on crypto is over’ as Trump pardons ex-Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of the industry’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, according to White House officials. Liam Kelly and Aleks Gilbert report.

Nigel Farage became the star of the crypto conference. Not everyone’s happy

The Reform Party leader has pledged to turn the UK into a crypto hotbed if elected prime minister, but not everyone in the industry is happy about his support.

Solana quietly ends support for Saga mobile phone just two years after launch

Developers behind Solana’s Saga mobile phone announced on Monday that they will stop providing vital software and security updates for the phone just two years after launch, Tim Craig reports.

Latest from DL Research

Post of the Week

Concerns over the threat of quantum computing got a fresh look this week as a breakthrough from Google brings the technology much closer to being used in real-world applications.

A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could crack Bitcoin’s cryptographic algorithm putting the $2.2 trillion asset in jeopardy.

DL News is an independent news organisation that provides original, in-depth reporting on the largely misunderstood world of cryptocurrency and decentralised finance. From original stories to investigations, our journalism is accurate, honest and responsible.