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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

Insights

Private Financing Snapshot (Week of November 03 – November 09)

Steve Payne
November 12, 2025
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November 3 – November 9  (Published November 12th)

PERSPECTIVES by Steve Payne

 

24 Crypto Private Financings Raised: $759.7M

Rolling 3-Month-Average: $629.2M 

Rolling 52-Week Average: $479.4M

 

This past week again tracked above our rolling average, with $759M in announced capital raises. As in the last few weeks, however, one or two very large deals swamp the average. Pulling out the Ripple raise, the median round size last week was only about $6M.

 

In the top spot, Ripple raised $500M at a $40B valuation. One might expect this size late-stage round to be a mezzanine round, where a private company raises capital to show investor and pricing support pre-IPO. In this case, however, Ripple President Monica Long has dismissed the idea of Ripple going public.

 

Ripple announced that this raise was to fund long-term growth and a tender offer. Interestingly, the employee and investor shares at a $40 billion valuation last month reportedly saw a low participation rate; many shareholders chose not to sell their stakes, implying an expected valuation over $40B. Funding recent acquisitions makes sense; Architect has reported on three acquisitions totaling $2.5B since April (links to Architect M&A Alerts on Ripple here, here, and here).

 

Another notable aspect of the Ripple investment was the investor group: the company announced the round was led by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, affiliates of Citadel Securities, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace. Fortress and Citadel likely have other business relationships with Ripple, but their presence shows very strong “crossover” support by the non-crypto crowd.

 

In contrast, Future’s $35M raise drew participation from crypto natives Fulgur Ventures, Nakamoto Packs Company, and Tobam. Switzerland-based Future has a core Bitcoin accumulation strategy, and in addition, they provide strategic crypto treasury management and advisory services to corporations and institutions. We don’t track straight DATs in our financing figures, but Future has enough of an operating-business focus to make the cut. And in more and more of our conversations with DAT sponsors and investors, the need for operating profits or yield to fund crypto accumulation is becoming apparent.