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Swyftx Acquires Caleb & Brown
Swyftx Acquires Caleb & Brown

Transaction Overview

On July 1st, 2025, Swyftx, one of the largest Australian cryptocurrency exchanges, announced a definitive agreement to acquire Caleb & Brown, a high-net-worth-focused crypto brokerage, for an undisclosed amount.

 

Target: Caleb & Brown

Caleb and Brown is a Melbourne-based, high net worth focused crypto brokerage that specializes in personalized trading services across the digital asset landscape. Caleb & Brown focuses on the relationship model used successfully across traditional  financial services – every client that comes onto their platform gets assigned a broker to assist them in executing trades  and handling all customer service needs. Caleb and Brown’s core services include 1) Brokerage Services, which provide personalized 24/7 trading support for 250+ digital assets, 2) an OTC Desk, which provides high volume trading solutions with deep liquidity and competitive pricing, 3) the Caleb and Brown Asset Management, an actively managed crypto asset fund for accredited investor, 4) crypto custody. 

 

The business has more than AUD $2 billion of digital assets under custody and was founded by Rupert Hackett and Dr. Prash Puspanathan in 2016. C&B is led by CEO Jackson Zeng and has 64 team members across both Australia and the US. Caleb & Brown has not raised any outside capital. 

 

Architect Partners’ Observations

Architect Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Caleb & Brown. 

 

Swyftx’s acquisition of Caleb & Brown marks the largest acquisition targeting high net worth crypto investors. It also reflects two important shifts in the evolution of crypto exchanges, particularly within the ANZ region.

 

First, high-net-worth client service is becoming a strategic differentiator. Exchanges are beginning to recognize that personalized brokerage and deep client relationships offer a competitive advantage while greatly reducing attrition. This is a model that high-net-worth clients are accustomed to in their financial lives. Caleb & Brown’s approach, which assigns a dedicated broker to every client, stands apart from the high-volume, low-touch models that dominate the market. Swyftx gains access not only to clients but also to an established business model that emphasizes trust, service, and retention in a way few crypto exchanges have pursued.

 

Second, this is a milestone moment for ANZ crypto M&A. While there have been many plays for global expansion by exchanges, this is the first of its kind in Australia moving into the US, signaling that the region is entering a more active phase of market maturity. 

 

We believe this transaction will serve as a catalyst for further strategic activity to expand globally and to augment services as companies seek differentiation in both product and customer segments.

 

Strategic Rationale

Swyftx is acquiring Caleb & Brown to expand into the United States via C&B’s regulatory framework, and to acquire the relationship model inherently required with a higher-tier customer base. This acquisition will grant Swyftx entry into the U.S. 12 to 24 months faster than otherwise possible organically. Furthermore, the acquisition diversifies Swyftx’s primarily retail client base to include 25k+ high net worth individuals in numerous countries. 

 

“Caleb & Brown has quietly established one of the most impressive brokerage offerings in the world, with a heavily differentiated private client service. We see enormous growth potential.” – Jason Titman

Crypto M&A Snapshot

Week of April 07 – April 13

Eric F. Risley
April 13, 2025
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April 7th – April 13th

PERSPECTIVES by Eric F. Risley 

 

With the recently introduced economic uncertainties, it’s a good time to step back and discuss the current state of the crypto M&A (and financing) markets.

 

However, we first saw another “premium-value” M&A transaction with Ripple announcing the acquisition of HiddenRoad. HiddenRoad is an institutional investor–focused prime broker with business in both crypto and traditional assets. The firm has built its capabilities using the structure, risk management techniques, and standards of traditional securities markets. Here is our M&A Alert with more details and the strategic rationale underlying the transaction.

 

As highlighted in our Q1 2025 Crypto M&A and Financing Report published less than two weeks ago, the crypto M&A markets have been improving over the past six months and continue to demonstrate strong momentum, nicely evidenced by the aforementioned acquisition. Our direct conversations with market participants—both acquirers and sellers—continue to be characterized by a general sense of prudent optimism and the recognition that crypto assets, in their various forms and use cases, are a legitimate and important asset class and set of technologies. This includes both crypto-native and traditional financial institutions in their various forms. All recognize that crypto is relatively early in a long-term maturation cycle, so medium- and long-term strategy drives thinking, less impacted by daily headlines. Perhaps even more critically, none of our active transactions have been slowed or paused due to economic uncertainty or recent headlines.

 

Financing markets have demonstrated similar momentum and the beginning of the return of growth equity capital, which has been virtually absent for the past 10 quarters.

 

The most adversely impacted financing market may prove to be the IPO market. IPO markets have generally been fickle for some time, and economic predictability and public market price stability are important. A reasonably well-functioning IPO market is critically important for both crypto M&A and late-stage financing. Public companies generally have more active M&A strategies, and late-stage investors depend on IPO markets (and “premium-value” M&A markets) to realize returns.

 

While IPO market conditions are not in anyone’s control, what is controllable are business-building efforts. Fundamentally, well-run, growing, and predictable business performance is the most important determinant of IPO suitability. Dozens of crypto businesses are well along that journey. When IPO markets do become conducive, many high-quality crypto businesses will be ready.