Alisa Davidson
Printed: April 07, 2026 at 10:17 am Up to date: April 07, 2026 at 10:17 am
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April 07, 2026 at 10:17 am
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Crypto M&A is reworking the trade—record-breaking offers, cross-border acquisitions, and token-based transactions are reshaping the market. On this interview, Casper Johansen of The Spartan Group reveals how founders can navigate gross sales, keep away from frequent errors, and thrive within the Web3 deal panorama.
Crypto strikes quick — however one a part of the trade not often makes headlines: the M&A offers quietly reshaping it. Whereas token launches and value cycles dominate the dialog, a parallel story of consolidation, cross-border acquisitions, and institutional dealmaking has been accelerating within the background. In line with PitchBook knowledge, crypto M&A reached a file $8.6 billion throughout 267 offers in 2025 — practically quadruple the worth recorded the yr prior. The message is evident: crypto is now not simply constructing — it’s consolidating.
Few persons are higher positioned to clarify what that truly seems to be like on the bottom than Casper Johansen, Co-Founder and Accomplice at The Spartan Group, probably the most established crypto-native advisory companies globally. With near a decade advising on M&A, token launches, and OTC transactions throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific, Casper has a front-row seat to how offers get finished on this trade — and why so many don’t.
On this interview, he discusses how crypto M&A differs from conventional dealmaking, why the alternate and brokerage sector is driving essentially the most consolidation proper now, how founders ought to method promoting their firms, and why the strains between crypto, fintech, and conventional finance have gotten more and more arduous to attract.
M&A and consolidation in crypto will not be one thing that will get talked about fairly often — are you able to clarify what it truly seems to be like in observe, and the way Spartan approaches it?
Over the past 18 to 24 months or so, we’ve seen an rising quantity of M&A exercise in crypto. One of many catalysts that began it was the IPO market within the US opening up, which principally meant that firms that had IPO’d, or wished to IPO, wanted to reveal progress — inorganic progress — which permits them to develop faster. It’s a lot faster to purchase one thing than to construct it.
On the identical time, one of many issues that had been holding crypto M&A again was that loads of occasions the offers are a mixture of money and fairness that the vendor will get paid in. For a very long time, sellers had been hesitant to take the fairness as a result of they didn’t know once they would be capable to exit and promote that fairness. However now, with the IPO market opening up and the general public markets being extra accessible, persons are extra snug taking shares as properly.
So sure, there’s loads of M&A happening. It’s a really lively market, and a few of it’s consolidation — by consolidation, I imply related trade or sector gamers buying one another. However there’s additionally what I’d describe as extra growth, the place one kind of firm buys into a unique product, geography, or vertical that they’re not at present in, by M&A.
How does a Web3 M&A deal differ from a conventional M&A deal?
There are some billion-dollar offers in crypto, however usually they’re within the tens of hundreds of thousands, generally a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands. So on common, they’re smaller than conventional markets as a result of it’s an earlier-stage sector.
One other distinction is that the crypto firms being offered have usually been round — proper now, sometimes — anyplace from six to 10 years, which in comparison with conventional sectors is a comparatively brief timeline. They have an inclination to exit a bit earlier. The founders are usually, in lots of instances, first-time founders, they usually are usually youthful. There may be generally added complexity in {that a} goal firm may need its personal token, or be planning to launch one, in order that must be considered.
These offers are additionally usually very worldwide or cross-border, whereas in conventional markets you extra generally see consolidation and M&A inside a rustic or area. In crypto, it’s nearly all the time worldwide — the businesses and their groups are situated all around the world.
Is your deal move really international, or does Spartan’s sturdy Asia presence imply the pipeline skews towards the area?
We get loads of our offers by referrals, and a few come from firms and founders we actively hunt down. However as you stated, it truly is a world sector. In any given yr there is perhaps a skew, however usually our enterprise can be roughly a 3rd within the Americas, a 3rd in Europe, and a 3rd in Asia Pacific when it comes to the purchasers we work with. Meaning we’re very used to working throughout as many as 15 or 16 hours of time zones, coordinating calls, transactions, and conferences.
The crypto sector usually could be very worldwide proper from the beginning, so many individuals are already accustomed to that, which does make it simpler to function as a world enterprise. Clearly, doing worldwide M&A way coping with many alternative enterprise cultures — the US has a sure tradition, the UK has one, Western Europe has one, Japanese Europe has one, the Center East has one other, Russia has one, South Asia, East Asia, Australia, Japan — they’re all very totally different when it comes to how folks talk, how it is best to talk with them, and the way folks method transactions.
Our crew has loads of worldwide enterprise expertise and has been doing cross-border M&A for over 25 years. I feel that’s an extremely essential side, as a result of in any other case offers can fail very simply attributable to miscommunications between the totally different sides.
Is there a kind of deal construction that works notably properly in crypto and Web3 that you just wouldn’t sometimes see in conventional M&A?
It’s truly fairly much like conventional M&A in lots of respects. There are often three fundamental deal sorts: an all-cash deal, an all-equity deal, and a mixture of money and fairness. We see all three in crypto, simply as in conventional M&A. The one distinction is that, as talked about, some firms have tokens, and we’ve finished offers the place the consideration has been a mixture of money, fairness, and tokens — which is clearly distinctive to Web3.
Token launches are sometimes debated — strategic instrument or primarily a fundraising train? The place do you see the steadiness?
After we work within the token house — and along with M&A, a part of what we do is assist launch tokens, help with investor relations round token initiatives, and execute OTC transactions for tokens — we’ve been working on this house for near 9 years now. One factor that has been essential, actually from the beginning since Ethereum enabled the massive progress in token issuance, and later different protocols adopted, is that you just actually should look case by case on the undertaking or firm to see whether or not a token is sensible.
In some instances it’s clearly required — to safe a layer one, for instance, there’s actually no debate. In fact there must be a token. Then there are different infrastructure layers the place it could make sense, after which for issues at what you may name the app layer, it’s not all the time apparent {that a} token is required — however it’s additionally not all the time apparent that one isn’t. It’s very a lot case by case when it comes to the way you need worth creation to move and the way you wish to purchase and retain customers.
I do assume that in sure durations, particularly in bull markets, folks have a knee-jerk response: “let’s launch a token, it’s a simple approach to increase cash with no fairness dilution.” Folks have gotten extra skilled and considerate about it now — they assume a lot more durable earlier than launching a token to evaluate whether or not it is sensible.
The way in which tokens are launched has additionally modified quite a bit: do you do it extra like a conventional fairness increase, the place you increase from enterprise capitalists after which progressively “go public” by itemizing the token, or do you go straight to what’s successfully an IPO, launching instantly on an alternate and elevating there, with non-public rounds probably following? There are much more — and extra subtle — buildings obtainable now.
So it’s essential for any firm debating this to soak up all these various factors. It’s genuinely advanced, and it’s an additional layer of complexity on high of simply constructing a product that founding groups should work by.
How would you describe the aggressive dynamics in crypto globally proper now — who’s profitable and who’s struggling?
It actually relies upon quite a bit on the sub-sector. In some sectors, for instance exchanges and buying and selling, liquidity begets liquidity, and it may be very arduous for brand spanking new gamers to return in and problem Bybit, OKX, Binance, and a number of the larger Western exchanges like Coinbase. Scale does matter. However you continue to see alternatives in case you take a unique method — what Hyperliquid did, for instance. It’s not at all a totally captured market.
Within the extra centralized companies, I’d say there’s undoubtedly a route in direction of extra B2B, extra institutional, and extra regulated operations. Loads of companies which have existed for some time and operated in a grey zone — largely a product of lack of regulation — are actually trying both to get regulated themselves or to accumulate platforms that already are. So that you see a transfer in direction of institutional and controlled.
On the identical time, I nonetheless assume there’s house for profitable market share and launching new merchandise on the decentralized aspect. There are totally different dynamics at play: huge versus small, centralized versus decentralized, and likewise East versus West — traditionally totally different approaches, for instance between Western exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, Bullish, Gemini and Japanese ones like Binance, Bybit, OKX.
However to sum up: the route is towards consolidation and scale, towards institutional and controlled companies, and likewise towards the West — primarily the US market — as a result of now that the US is extra crypto-friendly and regulation is coming in, it’s simply such a large capital market that exchanges which have traditionally operated outdoors the US actually desire a piece of it.
Are you seeing extra firms seeking to purchase, or extra seeking to promote?
It’s each proper now, and that’s why M&A is so lively — it’s a very good two-sided market. There are fairly various firms seeking to promote: perhaps they had been based six to 10 years in the past, the founders have been at it for a very long time, they really feel they’ve finished what they’ll with the corporate, they usually could have enterprise capital traders who’re in search of an exit.
On the flip aspect, there are acquirers who — whether or not they’re seeking to publicly checklist or are already listed — must reveal inorganic progress and have enterprise objectives they wish to obtain sooner than natural progress permits. So there’s a wholesome provide and demand dynamic. Whereas just a few years in the past — in 2022, 2023, and even components of 2024 — there was an honest quantity of provide, with folks desirous to promote, however not many patrons. It was a lot much less of a two-sided market.
How do you discover the appropriate acquirer when the customer pool is small?
That’s a very good query, and it’s the place I feel doing M&A on this sector requires a selected mixture of expertise. You want sturdy M&A expertise — it takes a very long time to construct that ability set, I’d say 10 to twenty years of doing M&A to have a extremely sturdy command of the craft. You then want two different issues: a deep understanding of the sector, and a robust community inside it.
So when a founder approaches us and says “I wish to promote my firm,” based mostly on our nearly a decade within the sector, we’ve a very good sense of who would purchase it and why, and the way it will match strategically.
M&A could be very bespoke — it’s not like a fundraising course of the place you’ll be able to method 50 to 100 names and drive a gross sales funnel. You must be very focused. It’s worthwhile to perceive who this is able to make sense for, and extra importantly, who it will make the mostsense for — in different phrases, who would worth this enterprise highest and provides the very best provide.
And then you definitely clearly must have contacts at these firms, each on the working degree and on the senior degree, and you’ll want to have their belief — they should know you’re knowledgeable, that if you run a course of you’re not losing their time, and that if they should spend inner political capital to push one thing by, they’re doing so with confidence that there’s knowledgeable course of behind it.
What does a Web3/crypto firm must have in place earlier than it turns into a gorgeous acquisition goal?
I feel there are two facets. One is the enterprise itself — to be a gorgeous acquisition goal, you want one thing distinctive, one thing that folks don’t really feel they have already got or may construct shortly. One thing of actual worth: it may very well be a geographic market you’ve cornered, a sure product, or one thing that others are doing too however that you just do notably properly. And a robust administration crew that the acquirer would wish to convey into their group.
Then there’s the extra sensible aspect. As you mature as an organization, it is best to be sure you have correct accounting, your books so as, your paperwork so as, a robust and secure crew, worker retention, and if your corporation requires regulation, compliance, or KYC, that you just’re compliant. All of those sensible facets matter as a result of when you have an incredible firm and product, offers can nonetheless collapse in due diligence if these different issues aren’t correctly so as.
At what level ought to a crypto undertaking cease considering like a bunch of builders and begin working as an actual firm?
Over time, I’ve seen an rising degree of professionalism. Founders have turn out to be extra conscious that it’s essential, proper from the beginning, to set issues up correctly — each when it comes to authorized entity construction and determining the cut up of shares and economics between the crew. So usually, folks have gotten higher at that.
Taking your instance of a bunch of builders constructing one thing: I feel the minute you are feeling it’s extra actual, that’s when it is best to arrange an organization, agree between yourselves — if there’s a bunch of you — who owns what, who will get what economics, and what commitments everyone seems to be making. You then kind an organization round that and from then on you attempt to do the whole lot professionally.
And when you begin bringing in outdoors traders — whether or not angels, seed capital, Collection A, enterprise capital, and so forth — in some unspecified time in the future these traders will even sometimes require extra construction and push you to be extra skilled.
The excellent news is there are loads of instruments to assist with that now, when it comes to software program, publicly obtainable info, and more and more AI instruments. An organization can actually be offered at any stage, however usually in case you’re actually onto one thing, you wish to wait a bit, create extra worth, and promote for extra. It’s all the time a tough steadiness for a founder to evaluate: ought to I promote now for X, or maintain going for 3 years and attempt to promote for 5 to 10 occasions as a lot? That’s all the time an actual problem.
Which Web3 subsectors do you assume will see essentially the most consolidation now and within the close to future, and why?
Some of the lively areas we’re seeing is the alternate and brokerage house. Increasingly international locations are rolling out, or have already got, home crypto regulation, and in the event that they have already got it, they’re being stricter about imposing it. So loads of exchanges are attempting to go onshore.
Should you’re working in a Southeast Asian nation, Australia, the Center East, or a European nation, you now not wish to simply function and not using a license from, so to talk, the cloud. You wish to go onshore, purchase an area license, construct an area crew, and function in a compliant approach — that’s a extra sustainable enterprise mannequin, particularly as establishments are coming in and we’re seeing extra commerce finance flows, stablecoins, and common stablecoin transaction quantity.
That’s one huge development: going onshore in a regulated style. One other development, once more pushed largely by exchanges, is exchanges including on further product functionality — shopping for a custodian, shopping for a staking firm, perhaps even shopping for a media arm. Non-exchange M&A actually exists too, however the exchanges are nonetheless driving a big portion of what we’re seeing.
Are you able to level to any M&A offers or consolidations in Web3 just lately that you just discovered notably well-executed or essential? What made them work?
I’d spotlight just a few we’ve labored on. Late final yr we suggested Fordefi on its sale to Paxos. Paxos is understood primarily as a stablecoin firm, and Fordefi is much like Fireblocks — it’s a custody know-how and infrastructure enterprise. It made loads of strategic sense for Paxos to convey this in-house as a part of its ecosystem; there was a very good cultural match between the businesses and clear synergies from combining the 2.
We additionally did a deal final yr the place we helped an Australian alternate known as Swyftx purchase one other participant that had a presence in Australia and the US, in addition to the main participant in New Zealand.
The hallmarks of a profitable M&A deal are a pure enterprise synergy between the 2 firms, and infrequently additionally the truth that the goal’s administration crew can genuinely add worth throughout the buying group.
There are instances the place the goal administration crew merely walks away — these are usually consolidation performs the place there’s loads of overlap and also you don’t want everybody to remain. However lots of the finest acquisitions are ones the place you want folks to remain, both as a result of they know the market properly or as a result of they convey a completely new product set to the acquirer.
When founders come to you in an M&A course of, what’s essentially the most frequent mistake they make?
I’d say not listening to our recommendation — sadly that does occur. I feel for any founder promoting their firm, it’s vital to have an M&A monetary advisor by your aspect, in addition to a very good legislation agency.
They serve very totally different capabilities and each add worth. It’s potential for a founder to do a fundraise themselves — generally they use an advisor, generally they don’t. However for M&A, I feel it’s vital.
I inform all founders: I actually wish to work with you, however even in case you don’t wish to work with me otherwise you’d want another person, please use an advisor.
For many founders, efficiently constructing and promoting one firm of their lifetime is a significant achievement — the truth is, most founders don’t succeed in any respect; that’s simply the truth.
To even have one firm that you may exit is a testomony to arduous work, perseverance, and luck. So we take it very severely when founders come to us to promote their firm, as a result of we all know this could be a life-changing second for a lot of of them.
It’s extremely essential to get it proper, and that’s why we don’t rush it. We all the time have a dialog with founders about why they’re seeking to promote, why they assume now could be the appropriate time, and what the alternate options are.
We give our personal opinion too. In some instances meaning going to market proper now and transferring shortly. In others it means ready — and we’ll keep the connection for just a few years till the timing is true.
However to reply your query instantly: the error many founders make — and I do know this could sound self-serving — will not be surrounding themselves with the appropriate advisors for the time being they’re contemplating a sale.
How do you worth a Web3 firm?
Usually we begin by having conversations with the founder to know the enterprise at a excessive degree. Then we’d sometimes signal an NDA and provides them a brief checklist of knowledge we’d wish to evaluate, which helps us kind a view on whether or not the corporate is sellable, who can be excited about shopping for it, whether or not the timing is true, and what we predict it will be value available in the market.
Loads of the founders we work with are understandably not skilled in M&A — that’s not their space. They’re very proficient at constructing know-how, merchandise, relationships, and go-to-market. So we take quite a bit off their plate and stroll them by the totally different levels and the data we want, sharing our views alongside the best way.
On the whole, I’d encourage any founder who’s constructing an organization with a possible sale in thoughts to remain organized — maintain your info comparatively so as — as a result of if a chance arises, whether or not somebody approaches you to purchase your organization otherwise you merely really feel the timing is true, it offers you far more flexibility to maneuver shortly when you’ll want to.
Trying on the subsequent two to 3 years, the place do you see crypto M&A exercise heading?
I feel it should proceed to be very lively. Assuming the US continues to be constructive on crypto from a regulatory perspective — no matter whether or not it’s Republicans or Democrats in energy — the US will likely be a giant driver of world markets, simply as it’s in conventional finance.
With a constructive regulatory outlook within the US, M&A will proceed. And for a lot of crypto firms globally that wish to exit by way of IPO, the US market stays essentially the most engaging venue. US public markets are very accustomed to seeing listed firms pursue M&A and inorganic progress, and I feel it’s largely inspired. So I count on a wholesome M&A market going ahead.
Just like what we’ve been seeing lately — an rising convergence between conventional finance, fintech, and Web3 — I feel we’ll proceed to see Web3 firms buying conventional finance firms and infrastructure, and vice versa: conventional finance, fintech, and neobank firms coming in and buying crypto infrastructure and crypto firms.
The 2 sectors will proceed converging to the purpose the place it turns into more durable to reply the query: is that this a Web2 conventional finance pockets or a Web3 pockets? Is that this a crypto brokerage or a funds firm? I feel we’ll see that bigger convergence proceed.
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About The Creator
Alisa, a devoted journalist on the MPost, focuses on cryptocurrency, zero-knowledge proofs, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a eager eye for rising tendencies and applied sciences, she delivers complete protection to tell and interact readers within the ever-evolving panorama of digital finance.
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Alisa, a devoted journalist on the MPost, focuses on cryptocurrency, zero-knowledge proofs, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a eager eye for rising tendencies and applied sciences, she delivers complete protection to tell and interact readers within the ever-evolving panorama of digital finance.
Extra articles
