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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

Year-End 2023 Crypto M&A and Financing Report

Eric Risley
January 8, 2024
DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT

Download the full report above.

Crypto Mergers & Acquisitions

 

The 2022 hangover continued with announced transaction volume remaining muted, however, improving fundamentals over the past three months promise to reinvigorate M&A activity in 2024.

 

M&A activity in Q4 2023 was up modestly from the prior two quarters but remains 30% below the average pace of 2022.

 

Crypto is not alone, broader technology and financial services M&A have similarly suffered reduced activity levels as well.

 

Traditional financial services companies remained wary of crypto assets, driven by regulatory and compliance uncertainty and persistent legitimacy questions.  However, digital assets, crypto’s cousin are attracting considerable attention.

 

The Brokers & Exchanges subsector and supporting Investing & Trading Infrastructure subsector continue to dominate representing 39% and 31% of Q4 and full year 2023 activity, respectively.

 

Headline transactions of 2023 were Ripple | Metaco, Coinbase | One River, DTCC | Securrency and Deutsche Borse | FundsDLT.

Crypto Private Financings

 

Financing activity continued its softening trend, with both deal count and capital raised falling from 2022 levels, but a late bump in December may portend a shift in the winds.

 

Crypto financing activity has been in a persistent decline since Q1 2022. Overall 2023 deal count fell by 34% from 2022 with capital raised falling by 68%.  Similarly Q4 2023 posted 50% lower proceeds raised and 4% fewer deals compared to the same quarter last year. 

 

But a December uptick bucked the trend, driven by a slight resurgence in later state deals and deal size rose for Q4 across the board for seed, early and late stage deals.

 

Old Guard crypto survivors attracted the largest numbers, including eToro raising $250M as an alternative to its cancelled SPAC, and Swan Bitcoin with $165M across two rounds to support Bitcoin investing and potential lending services.  Interoperable infrastructure projects also attracted substantial support,  such as  Wormhole ($225M) and LayerZero ($120M), both focused on cross-chain communications.  And new products and/or FinTech solutions such as Doshi’s Asian NFT market ($140M), Worldcoin’s digital ID ($115M) and Taurus with $65M for enterprise grade infrastructure.  

Crypto Public Companies

 

Crypto stock prices had an outstanding year driven by positive changes in the crypto environment. 

 

The Architect Public Crypto Market Index© was up 247% over the year. In comparison, the NASDAQ 100 and S&P 500 rose 43% and 24%, respectively.

 

Gains were driven by positive market developments following the 2022 turbulence and subsequent sell-off. 

 

Public crypto company multiples leveled out at typical  NASDAQ technology growth company valuations.  The Index’s Enterprise Value/Revenue in December 2022 was 1.8x and rose to 6.1x in December 2023.  By comparison, the NASDAQ 100 Market Cap/Revenue was 4.8x in Dec. 2022, falling to 4.5x in December 2023. This multiple “reset” occurred despite 2023 index revenue growth of 11%; investors focusing instead on the improving environment.

 

At the sub-sector level, Crypto Investment Platforms returned an average of 165%, which was significantly lowered by Coinshares 1%.  Network Operators average return was 556%, lowered by Bitdeer and Canaan’s 15% and 19% respectively, and Crypto Influenced average return was 99%, primarily driven by MicroStrategy’s 336%.