ARCHITECT SUCCESSES

SEE ALL
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

Insights

Week of November 25 – December 1

Todd White
December 4, 2024
DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT

November 25 – December 1 (Published Dec 4th)

 

PERSPECTIVES by Todd White

 

19 Crypto Private Financings Raised: $126M

Rolling 3-Month-Average: $220M

Rolling 52-Week Average: $216M

 

Last week, I needed to make a payment to Switzerland. The invoice included a convenient QR code to make a nearly instantaneous transfer from my phone—had I been in Switzerland. However, because I was in the U.S., it took my bank four days, several emails, and a hefty fee to process and confirm the payment. Ugh.

 

Cross-border payments, global money transfers, and bank settlements are areas fraught with friction and complexity. Much of this stems from the way traditional stewards of our money—banks—interact with each other. For banks that hold direct accounts with each other, i.e., have direct mutual relationships, transactions are relatively simple and can be managed with straightforward instructions. Yet they are often still quite slow. When there is no direct relationship, they must transact through an intermediary or “correspondent” bank with whom both have a relationship, adding both time and cost to any exchange. If multiple currencies, parties, payment time requirements, or any other myriad factors arise, the relative complexity can increase geometrically. This adds more time, more cost, and more potential points of failure.

 

For these reasons, the allure of instant, immutable, and trustless settlement through blockchain networks has been palpable for years. Many believe disintermediation is the key—reducing the middlemen reduces the time and cost. Others favor wholesale disruption—eliminating the middle entirely and going peer-to-peer. Indeed, this latter sentiment spawned much of what we now call crypto in the first place. But adoption has been slow and often seemingly resisted by some of the most important institutions.

 

Yet the promise is real, and progress is happening. JPMorgan famously launched their JPM Coin in 2019 for internal use among account holders, and later its permissioned blockchain, known as Kinexys (formerly Onyx), which claims $1.5 trillion in notional value processed to date. Earlier this year, the Bank for International Settlements—a clearinghouse of sorts for national central banks—published a white paper envisioning a blockchain-enabled “Finternet,” an ambitious plan requiring broad collaboration among public and private institutions. There are numerous other initiatives, both large and small, seeking to augment or disrupt institutional capabilities—through stablecoins, on/off ramps, peer-to-peer payments, or DeFi protocols.

 

One of these projects, Partior, landed $20M from Deutsche Bank last week in follow-on to its June Series B. This brings total Series B proceeds to $80M and adds Deutsche Bank to ranks that include JPMorgan, DBS, Temasek, and Standard Chartered (who led their $31M Series A in 2022). Partior’s goal is to reduce friction and delay in cross-border payments, trade, and FX settlements through its “global unified ledger” settlement network—an on-chain bridge for real-time clearing and settlement among financial institutions.

 

I can’t say how soon this or other systems will help me send money quickly and cheaply to Switzerland. But it certainly sounds like progress.

 

Contact ryan@architectpartners.com to schedule a meeting.