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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

Insights

Week of November 4 – November 11

Todd White
November 13, 2024
DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT

November 4 – November 11 (Published November 13th)

PERSPECTIVES by Todd White

 

23 Crypto Private Financings Raised: ~$187M 

Rolling 3-Month-Average: ~$216M

Rolling 52-Week Average: ~$218M

 

I first learned about Bitcoin at a Freedom and Unity Festival in 2012. I saw an intellectually fascinating form of digital money created and managed by a community of libertarians and programming geeks but completely failed to comprehend the investment opportunity or discern the digital asset phenomenon that was unfolding before my eyes. I clearly didn’t get it.

 

 

A few years later, a friend and professional mentor quit his job as the global head of something important at a Big 4 accounting firm to dedicate his energy toward Bitcoin mining. He had discovered BTC as a means of efficiently transferring wealth back to the U.S. during a multi-year assignment in Asia. But his timing coincided with one of BTC’s early runs, so “Bitcoin Jim” soon started doing better financially by applying his programming acumen on an overbuilt gaming machine in the evenings than from his considerably lucrative day job. He eventually cut the cord to the TradFi world and filled his basement with pricey, power-hungry computers. I thought he was slightly nuts—but I still clearly didn’t get it.

 

 

Soon thereafter, mining became the exclusive province of well-funded (and/or highly leveraged) enterprises running sophisticated facilities with increasingly specialized equipment and an insatiable appetite for computing and electrical power. Many of these became the network operators that pervade our public crypto index. The path of “Bitcoin Jim” seemed forever beyond the reach of mere individual aspiring libertarians and geeks alike.

 

 

A similar tale can be told for staking and validator nodes for other cryptocurrencies. The cost and scale needed to run effective operations in very competitive markets can be prohibitive, and some argue that the consolidation of validation and staking nodes among sizable players can even undermine the decentralized nature of crypto in general.

 

 

CrytocoinMiner is seeking to reverse this trend with cloud-based mining infrastructure and decentralized governance designed for individual enthusiasts to “passively earn Bitcoins without any restrictions, regardless of technical knowledge or financial resources.” Investors have supported their vision with a $100 million strategic financing round that closed this week, with support from Nomad Capital, No Limit Holdings, Sky9 Capital, UOB-Signum Blockchain Fund, Interop Ventures, and nine other well-known institutional investors. The proceeds will be deployed to accelerate decentralized governance and expand their technology stack. Yet another infrastructure play with meaningful capital support from investors who believe in CrytocoinMiner’s vision. Hopefully, they prove to “get it” this time around better than I did in those distant early days of crypto.

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Contact ryan@architectpartners.com to schedule a meeting.