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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 October 23 – October 29

J. Todd White
November 1, 2023
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20 Crypto Private Financings Raised ~$82M

Rolling 3-Month-Average: $123M

Rolling 52-Week Average: $182M

 

Smaller and earlier-stage venture investments again dominated this week’s private investment landscape, with a slight deal count uptick to 20 financings, but proceeds remaining modest. Infrastructure remains the dominant theme, and the top ten included four trading infrastructure deals, two payment companies, two privacy-related initiatives and a med-tech platform for which privacy is an essential tenet.   

 

Selected Highlights 

Rymedi, a South Carolina-based med-tech team, closed a $9M Series A co-led by RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital with participation from Blockchange Ventures, Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund, and strategic healthcare industry angels. Rymedi was founded in 2017 with early participation in an FDA-approved consortium to explore blockchain-enabled tracking and verification in drug transport and usage. Other early collaborations included using their global pharmaceutical compliance expertise to help the cannabinoid industry meet international regulatory needs, focused work with the WHO to address hepatitis C in Mongolia, and a recurring symbiotic affiliation with neighboring Clemson University. At the height of COVID, Rymedi was able to quickly deploy its digital workflow platform in testing and treatment initiatives. And immediately prior to their latest round, Rymedi migrated to Avalanche, using three avalanche sub-nets to separately solve for identity (privacy), transaction and compliance monitoring.

 

Why Notable?   

The Rymedi story has combined deep industry compliance expertise with blockchain technology to solve notoriously tricky and competing mandates in healthcare – the transfer of health records, and automate patient testing, treatment, and monitoring to optimize outcomes with greater speed and reduced cost, while preserving security and privacy of patient data. What has emerged is a nimble and scalable enterprise platform with numerous real-world healthcare applications, from drug tracing and tracking to testing and treatment of infectious diseases, that now serves 1M+ patients in 1200 locations across US, Africa and Australia.

 

Nocturn Labs, the developer of an Ethereum-based privacy protocol, raised $6M in seed funding led by Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital, with notable support including the Ethereum ecosystem and co-founder Vitalik Buterin, and Bankless Ventures.  The protocol is expected to launch in late November using zero-knowledge proofs and stealth addresses to facilitate private account activity on a public blockchain.  

 

Why Notable?  

There has been significant recent traction of institutional initiatives using private permissioned blockchains,  particularly within the traditional finance world where privacy, security and control are paramount.  Preserving privacy on public blockchains is oft-cited as a barrier to mass adoption or migration onto public chains, which many feel offers more complete and scalable benefits.  Over time there may be diminishing distinctions as cross-chain solutions and interoperability become more refined over time.  Solving for privacy is a critical component in the evolution.