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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

Alerts

Ripple to Acquire Rail for $200 million

Eric Risley
August 7th, 2025
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Transaction Overview

On August 7th, 2025, Ripple Labs announced it had agreed to acquire Rail, a stablecoin-powered payments platform, for a purchase price of $200M. 

 

Target: Rail

Rail is a Toronto-based payment infrastructure platform that uses stablecoins to enable fast, low-cost cross-border transactions for businesses.

 

Key offerings include virtual accounts, on / off-ramps between USD and stablecoins, and automated back-office payment processing, allowing fintechs, neobanks, payment providers, and enterprises to move money internationally with speed and transparency.

 

The company claims that its technology powers approximately 10% of global stablecoin payment activity. They reportedly process billions of dollars annually, with a month-on-month increase of over 20% in volume as businesses seek more efficient, stablecoin-based payment solutions.

 

Regulatory compliance and scale are core to Rail’s value proposition. It operates through licensed entities in multiple jurisdictions, such as the US and Canada, through their registrations with FINCEN and FINTRAC as a money service business. Rail also partners with regulated banks and trusts to provide custody and payment services, ensuring client funds move through compliant channels. With a network of over 12 banking partners globally, Rail offers redundancy and reliability in its payment corridors, instilling confidence that funds can be transferred securely at any time.

 

Rail is a privately held company, so detailed financial metrics have not been made public. They are backed by investors like Galaxy Ventures and Accomplice, having raised a $10.7M Series A in 2022. 

 

Rail’s ability to connect fiat and stablecoins compliantly has positioned it as a leading infrastructure provider at the intersection of traditional finance and crypto, which likely contributed to the attractive exit valuation in this deal.

 

Rail’s main competitors include other payment infrastructure platforms such as Bridge, Moonpay, BVNK, Conduit, HiFi Bridge, Wormhole, and several others, as this space continues to expand.

 

Buyer: Ripple

Ripple is a leading provider of enterprise blockchain and digital asset solutions for financial institutions. Headquartered in San Francisco, Ripple is best known for the XRP Ledger, a decentralized blockchain, and its native cryptocurrency XRP, which together power Ripple’s global payments network. 

 

Compliance has been a key focus for Ripple, holding over 60 financial licenses worldwide. This gives them regulatory coverage in many jurisdictions, bolstering trust within their institutional clients. 

 

In the past two years, Ripple has made stablecoins a strategic priority within its product roadmap. The company launched its own U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), in 2024 as an alternative to dominant stablecoins like Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. 

 

To boost the utility and adoption of RLUSD and expand into broader crypto services, Ripple has been on an M&A spree. In May 2023, Ripple acquired Switzerland-based custody provider Metaco for $250M, its first major acquisition,  to add secure digital asset custody capabilities for institutional clients. Earlier this year, Ripple also agreed to buy multi-asset prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B, aiming to integrate advanced trading and liquidity features that enhance RLUSD’s use cases. In total, Ripple has invested over $3B in acquisitions and strategic investments to date, reflecting an aggressive growth strategy to become the leading crypto payment company.

 

Transaction Parameters

Ripple will acquire 100% of Rail for a total of $200M upon close. Neither company disclosed the mix of cash or equity in the deal. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Q4 2025. 

 

Previous comparable transactions include: Circle | Cybavo, Moonpay | Helio (M&A Alert), and Nuvei | Simplex (M&A Alert), OSL Group | Banxa (M&A Alert), Circle | Hashnote (M&A Alert), Stripe | Bridge (M&A Alert). 

 

Strategic Rationale

Rail contributes a network of more than 12 bank partners and is forecasted to handle over 10% of the $36B in 2025 B2B stablecoin flows, giving Ripple immediate volume and corridor coverage.

 

Together, they can offer enterprises a one-stop shop for stablecoin-to-fiat movement, expanding the utility of RLUSD and XRP, and competing head-to-head with legacy cross-border payments infrastructure.

 

Architect Partners’ Observations

2025 is the year of stablecoins. The passing of the GENIUS Act has finally opened regulations, and major traditional finance players such as Standard Chartered, Bank of America, and Citigroup are already moving in. That gives firms like Ripple roughly a 12 to 18-month head start to lock in market share before the large banks can fully compete.

 

Ripple’s recent deals focus on pushing its stablecoin RLUSD into as many distribution channels as possible. The company’s $1.25B acquisition of Hidden Road created an immediate beachhead in traditional finance by onboarding more than 300 institutional clients and laying the groundwork to tokenize conventional financial products ahead of incumbents.

 

The follow-on acquisition of Rail extends that strategy. Rail already routes about 10 percent of all on-chain stablecoin flows for exchanges, PSPs, and corporates, giving RLUSD a meaningful boost in distribution. The deal also provides the front-end payment plumbing that complements the liquidity pipes supplied by Hidden Road. Finally, Rail’s FINTRAC/MSB registrations and Canadian bank relationships expand RLUSD’s geographic reach, dovetailing with Ripple’s more than 50 U.S. money-transmitter licences to reduce single-jurisdiction risk and smooth north-south corridors.

 

Sources 

PitchBook, Ripple & Rail Joint Press Release, News Reports, Rail Company Updates, Tracxn, Architect Partners Insights.