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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 June 02 – June 08

Eric F. Risley
June 08, 2025
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June 2nd – June 8th

PERSPECTIVES by Eric F. Risley 

 

This past week demonstrated the “builders keep building” truism despite the deep shade cast by Circle’s IPO debut.

 

Let’s be honest: the user experience for most crypto/Web3 applications sucks. Part of this challenge stems from the core crypto philosophy of “self-custody” or “self-sovereignty.” Corresponding phrases like “my keys, my coins” and words like “trustless” have deep ramifications. Both demand uncompromising responsibility from the user for safekeeping. As nicely articulated by Kain Warwick, founder of Infinex, “the industry wasted years trying to educate users about why seed phrases were important to ‘chisel into a stone and bury in your backyard,’ but it didn’t work.”

 

Retreat from these core philosophies isn’t the answer, but improvement is clearly necessary to attract the oft-repeated Next Billion Users. Imagine processing the five stages of grief experienced by the holders of between 2.3 million and 3.7 million bitcoins (worth $2.4-$3.9 billion today) that are permanently lost.

 

Joe Lubin and Consensys have a clear, admirable, and consistent vision: helping developers build great Web3 applications. This vision and the company behind it are without peer today and are crucial to crypto’s future. As is very well articulated in plain English on their website:

 

“Our applications, tools, and infrastructure make Web3 easy to use and build on. But the future won’t be made by us: it will be made by you, and a growing global community. Great things are being made, and this is just the beginning.”

 

This week Consensys announced the acquisition of Web3Auth with the intention of addressing one of the biggest risks in self-custody today: seed-phrase management. Usually, press releases and blog posts are overly technical and lingo-heavy, but not so with Consensys:

 

“Recent data shows that 35% of users do not back up their seed phrases, putting them at risk of fund loss. By integrating Web3Auth’s capabilities, MetaMask users will be able to create and recover wallets using familiar web2 authentication methods, such as social logins and device-based authentication, eliminating the requirement for users to manually back up seed phrases, reducing the likelihood of lost funds.”

 

Thank you, Consensys, for modeling clarity, purpose, and conviction for all of us to emulate.