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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 Public Companies Snapshot

Crypto Public Companies Snapshot

Elliot Chun
April 12, 2024
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In the last two months, I’ve been to Dubai, Vegas, Denver, London, New York and I am just getting back from Paris Blockchain Week, and all I need is this plastic card to pay for everything.

 

While “credit” has been around since the invention of banks, the modern credit card is rumored to have been invented in the 1940s with the modern debit card following in the 1960s. Fast forward 7 decades and these cards are used for the vast majority of today’s payments, both in-person and online. Mastercard in 2023 had over $9T in Gross Dollar Volume; Visa had $12T in payments volume.

 

For this convenience, card issuers generally charge about 3% to individuals and businesses (payers) and 3%+ to merchants (payees), who typically receive their payment days later. But both participants of this transaction are ok with this fee because these plastic cards are trusted, easy to use, and there isn’t a better option that is universally adopted. It’s one of the best business models in human society.

 

We are not there yet, but we are getting close to having a form of payment that is as trusted, as easy, and as universally adopted … with instant settlement and fewer fees.

 

This week, Mastercard (MA) announced a partnership with 1inch and Baanx in providing a crypto-backed debit card.

 

Since 2017, many in our industry have been pioneers in allowing crypto assets to be an asset that backs a plastic card.

 

One of the fascinating things about this week’s announcement is that 1inch, a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator, is providing its users with the ability to make plastic card payments with balances in their 1inch account. It’s hard for me to even draw a comparison to this, but I’ll go with using your brokerage account as the reference account that backs the plastic card payment.

 

Baanx is providing the Fiat to crypto on/off-ramps and Mastercard is providing their verified payment network.

 

This is one example of many (call it ~100) that seek to make crypto a mainstream asset that can be used to back everyday payments.

 

The funny thing is that in April of 2024, crypto and the rails the asset is built on allows for instantly settled transfer of asset values at fractions of today’s ~6% all-in transaction fee. 

 

Using a crypto-backed plastic card is a necessary step towards broader payment adoption similar to how the ETF is a necessary step toward broader investment adoption.

 

For certain, we are a decade (not plural) away from native crypto (no plastic card) being used as a global, mainstream payment option. This will happen in conjunction with humans no longer having a physical wallet in their pockets / bags.

 

Crypto-backed payments will have a significant, and arguably transformative, effect on every publicly traded company that generates revenues from payments. All of them.

 

And when will the 3.375 in x 2.125 plastic card become the floppy disk logo on our computers?

 

We will address the digital version of everything else in our wallet, as well as other forms of crypto payments (Stablecoins, CBDCs) in future Perspectives.