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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

Financing

Week of September 08 – September 14

Todd White
September 17, 2025
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September 8 – September 14 (Published September 17th)

PERSPECTIVES by Todd White

 

24 Crypto Private Financings Raised: $56.9M

Rolling 3-Month-Average: $373.3M

Rolling 52-Week Average: $347.2M

 

The integration of blockchain technology into traditional business has matured selectively, if underwhelmingly. The promise, dating back to Bitcoin’s origins in 2009, is for decentralized, transparent, and immutable systems to disrupt traditional industries like finance, supply chain, and healthcare. Current trends driven by real-world-asset (RWA) tokenization and regulatory clarity seem positive, but broad-scale adoption has remained hampered by technical, economic, and organizational hurdles.

 

There have been some notable successes. JPMorgan’s Kinexys (formerly Onyx) processes over $1 billion daily in tokenized deposits and cross-border payments via JPM Coin, reducing settlement times from days to seconds. RippleNet has enabled banks like Santander to cut international transfer costs by 40–70%. And the massive success in 2025 of crypto ETFs and tokenized money-market funds has attracted institutional capital, signaling mainstream RWA adoption.

 

Yet there have been many more failures. Some estimate that over 90% of all blockchain projects collapse, often from overhyped expectations and execution challenges. Common factors include lack of stakeholder buy-in, governance flaws, technological complexity, poor interoperability, and unsustainable business models.

 

Inversion Capital seeks to change this dynamic by combining seasoned crypto expertise with focused capital in a private equity strategy. Inversion was founded by Santiago Roel Santos, an experienced investor and former general partner at ParaFi Capital and founder of EON Capital, to acquire and transform traditional businesses by integrating blockchain infrastructure. Its core model involves strategic buyouts of underperforming companies in sectors such as financial services and telecommunications, followed by embedding crypto-enabled solutions (such as stablecoin payments and on-chain efficiencies) to unlock growth. Through its arm, Inversion Labs, the firm seeks to develop new revenue-generating products (e.g., blockchain-based remittances) and replace legacy cost centers with decentralized systems, aiming to make blockchain “invisible yet transformative” for mainstream adoption.

 

Inversion closed a $26.5 million seed round on September 8, 2025, led by Dragonfly Capital with participation from 35 backers including VanEck, Lightspeed Faction, ParaFi Capital, Portal Ventures, HashKey Capital, Volt Capital, Race Capital, and angels like Balaji Srinivasan and Bryan Pellegrino (LayerZero co-founder). Participating investors are predominantly crypto-native, comprising leading venture firms and high-profile angels who align with Inversion’s vision of mainstream blockchain adoption. The raise suggests conviction among the crypto cognoscenti that real-world utility beyond speculation is at hand, with an investor base capable of offering not just capital but strategic networks in DeFi and emerging markets.

 

We are encouraged to see a smart team attract smart capital to help promote and expand adoption. Future rounds may attract broader traditional interest once Inversion demonstrates success, but the current syndicate’s deep crypto focus seems an appropriate mix of capital, expertise, and connections to help pave the way.