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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 19, 2024
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Should I buy BTC or should I invest in a BTC Network Operator (Miner)?

 

This continues to be a key question on how BTC investors position their portfolios, as the thesis with investing in a BTC Miner is the Miner can earn BTC rewards at a cost basis that is lower than the current BTC price. So investors decide if the risk associated with a Miner’s ability to generate rewards is worth the difference in cost basis of the BTC rewarded versus the current price of BTC.

 

Today the Fourth Halving is upon us and the BTC rewards are cut from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC rewarded per block, which has a significant impact on every Miners’ ability to generate BTC.

 

So how did the Third Halving (12.5 BTC down to 6.25 BTC) affect BTC Miners? 

 

The Third Halving was on May 11, 2020 and in the following weeks, the first set of publicly traded companies started announcing their transition into BTC Mining companies, so while the data set is not perfect, we present the bottom chart on the left, which compares the performance of our BTC Network Operator Subsector to the price of BTC, Gold, and S&P 500. (Note we measured performance in percentages and not absolute return.)

 

After the Third Halving, BTC Miners outperformed BTC until Jan 2022, which was when Miners experienced the death scenario of extremely expensive cost of capital, high energy prices, high miner machine prices, and low BTC prices. In 2023, the Subsector rebounded by capitulating on unrecoverable situations, re-negotiating more sustainable operating and financing terms, and recalibrating their operating discipline. 

 

In YTD 2024, BTC is up 45%, the Architect Crypto Public Market Index is up 26% (driven primarily by Coinbase & Microstrategy), while the Network Operator Subsector is down 31%.

 

Where do we go after today’s Fourth Halving?

 

As BTC adoption continues, the value of BTC will go higher.

 

Publicly traded BTC Miners who have successfully navigated since the Third Halving will be rewarded with real opportunities to acquire BTC mining assets (full operating sites, data centers, ASIC miners, shovel-ready development sites) in the next 18 – 24 months. We expect we will see an active M&A environment as the proven BTC Miners jockey for a new batch of sellers who struggle with go-forward 3.125 BTC rewards. 

 

We also expect BTC Miners to diversify their revenue profiles, including providing computing power to satiate the AI industry’s appetite, delivering innovative on-chain solutions such as Marathon’s Slipstream service, providing BTC mining operating software, and running their own BTC mining pools.

 

Finally, we expect corporate action activity between BTC Miners and manufacturers of ASIC-mining equipment, given their shared BTC vision and close business alignment.

 

The Fourth Halving version of BTC Miners is experienced and battle-tested with proven leadership teams who are even bigger believers that BTC will be the global asset of the future.

 

As BTC adoption continues, the value of BTC Miners will go higher. 

 

Take the long-term view and know we will see additional cycles (downs & ups) as we achieve sustainability higher levels.