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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 M&A Snapshot

Week of December 9 – December 15

Eric F. Risley
December 15, 2024
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December 9th – December 15th

PERSPECTIVES by Eric F. Risley 

 

Signal from noise is a tough problem. What matters?

 

One thing that certainly matters to crypto is developer activity. Electric Capital has done an outstanding job with its just-updated Developer Report, shedding light on the state and trends of this critically important topic. A few highlights from our read:

 

 

Ethereum continues to lead in developer base (L1 and associated L2s), although it has declined by 17% in the past year.

 

Solana has the strongest momentum in attracting new developers, growing its developer base by 83% in the past year.

 

Active developers today total 23,613, still down from the peak in 2022, and have not yet regained upward momentum.

 

North America has declined from its leadership position and is now third globally, behind Asia and Europe. Regulatory policy matters!

 

Remarkably, NFT minting volume is at an all-time high, occurring mostly on Base, with most trading activity happening on Solana.

 

NFT use cases are shifting from “art” toward more practical categories, such as rewards and loyalty, credentials and identity, and game assets.

 

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) remains a popular development category, encompassing lending, DEXs, derivatives, stablecoins, restaking, and more. This represents the democratization of capital markets, enabling anyone globally to access and participate in a variety of low-risk and high-risk activities outside the traditional financial system.

 

 

The report features contributions from an incredible 339 collaborators—kudos for such a broad, open-source-minded effort!

 

We’ll leave you today with our picks for the two most interesting charts in the report: (1) where stablecoin transactions are happening globally and (2) the median transaction size. As highlighted in Stablecoins: The Emerging Market Story, Africa may be emerging as the “cradle of real-world stablecoin usage.”