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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

Sygnum Raises $40M

Michael S. Klena
January 30, 2024
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On January 25, 2024, Swiss-based global digital asset bank, Sygnum, raised $40 million in a strategic growth round, valuing the company at over $900 million post-money.

Transaction Overview

On January 25, 2024, Swiss-based global digital asset bank, Sygnum, raised $40 million in a strategic growth round, valuing the company at over $900 million post-money. The round is led by global asset manager, Azimut Holding, and is joined by other new and existing strategic and financial investors.

 

Company Description

Sygnum is a Switzerland and Singapore-focused digital asset bank serving high-net-worth individuals,  institutional investors, banks, corporates, and DLT foundations. Their service offering includes digital asset banking, asset tokenization, asset management, custody, staking, trading, and lending. By the end of 2023, Sygnum achieved an annualized revenue run rate of $100 million and reached positive cash flow in Q4 2023. The company disclosed $3.5 billion in AUM in the same year, an increase from $2 billion at the end of 2021. The client base also grew from 1,000 at the end of 2021 to 1,700 by the end of 2023.

 

The company has ~260 employees and operates in Singapore, Switzerland, UAE, and Luxembourg, with a client base from over 60 countries. Sygnum is licensed as a banking and securities dealer by Switzerland’s FINMA and holds a CMS license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. In June 2023, it received in-principle approval for a Major Payments Institutional Licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Sygnum expanded to Luxembourg in December 2022 and acquired Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi’s ADGM FSRA in March 2023. Some notable clients include large Swiss banks such as PostFinance, Zuger Kantonalbank, and Luzerner Kantonalbank.

 

Sygnum also has a venture capital arm with a $75M fund that has invested in nine early-stage crypto companies.

 

Funding

Sygnum has raised $40 million in its strategic growth round at a $900 million post-money valuation. The company now has several financial and strategic investors such as Azimut Holding, Sun Hung Kai & Co., Meta Investments, Animoca Brands, Wemade, SBI Holdings, SCB 10X, and others.

 

Funds from this financing round will increase Sygnum’s presence in new global markets and enable quicker regulated product development, like its B2B (bank-to-bank) platform. This platform is currently utilized by more than 15 banks and financial institutions worldwide for cryptocurrency services.

 

In January 2022, Sygnum raised $90 million in their Series B at a post-money valuation of $800 million led by Sun Hung Kai & Co. Previous funding details were not disclosed.

 

Competition

Sygnum competes with others in the digital assets banking space. Some competitors include SEBA Bank and Bitcoin Suisse.

 

Architect Partners’ Perspective

As we discussed in our 2023 year-end report, financings overall were muted in the past 12 months, and the malaise was more pronounced in mid-sized financings ($25-$75M) like Sygnum.  It is our understanding that Sygnum has been in the market for nearly a year and finally gained traction as the overall crypto trading volumes (and the attached revenues) rose from the trough in Q4.    

 

The Swiss regulator, FINMA, is under extreme pressure due to the Credit Suisse implosion, and we believe granting new crypto bank licenses is not a priority.  As one of only 2 licenses granted in Switzerland, the value of the license itself can be driving a slight uptick in valuation along with a general improving sentiment of the market.  We view the valuation at the top end of the range, but caveat that we do not have full information on their revenues. 

 

While it’s not a milestone in the capital raising environment, it is a nice marker that things may be opening up to average flows.

 

Sources 

PitchBook, Company Website, Press Release