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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

Financing

Week of April 28 – May 04

Todd White
May 6, 2025
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April 28 – May 4 (Published May 6th)

PERSPECTIVES by Todd White

 

29 Crypto Private Financings Raised: $166.7M

Rolling 3-Month-Average: $536.2M

Rolling 52-Week Average: $273.8M

 

Innovative technologies have repeatedly disrupted and reshaped the protection and enforcement of individual and economic rights across industries, from basic privacy to copyright and other intellectual-property interests. Since Gutenberg’s printing press, inventions such as player pianos, radio, photocopying, VCRs, and the digital downloading and streaming of music and video have challenged existing frameworks, bringing both threats and safeguards time and again.

 

For example, the music industry was profoundly disrupted by peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing platforms like Napster and LimeWire in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Early digital devices such as MP3 players and P2P networks enabled unauthorized distribution, much as photocopiers once threatened print media. Bypassing traditional sales channels, P2P file sharing severely cut into artists’ and labels’ revenues, sparking major legal battles; Metallica’s lawsuit against Napster culminated in Napster’s 2001 shutdown for copyright infringement.

 

The technology threatened musicians’ livelihoods by enabling widespread piracy, but it also sparked a tech-enabled solution. Digital Rights Management (DRM) began with basic encryption and access controls to prevent unauthorized copying and sharing of digital content, then evolved with stronger encryption, rights management, and authentication that ultimately helped digital media consumption grow across platforms while protecting creators. DRM continues to expand, with new technologies such as blockchain and AI giving artists even more granular control over, and remuneration from, their work.

 

Similar stories are playing out today and are attracting investor interest. Modern AI development consumes massive amounts of data, including copyrighted material, to train models and image generators. As with P2P file sharing, this has spawned numerous lawsuits alleging unauthorized use of articles, books, movies, photos, and more. Camp Network, which recently closed a 25 million-dollar Series A led by 1kx and Blockchain Capital, with support from OKX Ventures, Lattice Ventures, and Paper Ventures, has developed a purpose-built Layer-1 blockchain for creators to register, license, and monetize intellectual property (IP) with provenance baked into the protocol. It targets creators in the crypto ecosystem, offering gas-less IP registration and smart-contract-enabled royalty distribution to support AI training with incentives aligned between creators and AI developers.

 

As has happened time and again, technological advancements that create formidable threats ultimately catalyze technological solutions that lead to greater control and creative freedom, generating both investment and revenue opportunities. We hope, and fully expect, this point-and-counterpoint dynamic to continue, with groups like Camp Network and the investors who back them playing a critical role.

 

Architect Partners will be at Consensus Toronto; if desired, please contact ryan@architectpartners.com to schedule a meeting.