💼 Deal or no deal

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Figment’s on the hunt…for some good deals. 

The staking firm told Bloomberg it’s looking for some acquisition targets, specifically focusing on deals between $100 million to $200 million. 

CEO Lorien Gabel said they have term sheets out already, so it seems like it might be yet another bullish sign for crypto M&A.

Oh, and they’re not the only ones engaging in that type of activity…

Elsewhere:

• Bitcoin’s still hovering around $94,000. ETH’s down 1.1% to $1,700. 

• There were 72 venture capital raises last month, according to Blockworks Research. 

• The total crypto market cap is up slightly to $2.95 trillion.

💑 Two become one

M&A szn’s still going strong — and this morning’s announcement that Trident and IntoTheBlock are merging is yet another sign of the consolidation we’re seeing.

If you’re not familiar with the two, IntoTheBlock is a financial services platform designed for institutional DeFi investors, and Trident Digital offers services from lending to advisory. 

The firms will now become Sentora, and the goal of the new joint entity is to cater to funds, treasuries, and other institutional investors in DeFi. Basically, they want to create an ecosystem focused on the needs of institutions to push into DeFi.

Trident’s Anthony DeMartino will take the helm of Sentora. (If he sounds familiar to you, he was also former head of risk strategies at Coinbase.)

“Through our strategic partnerships with industry leaders, we are developing a suite of products that address the key blockers preventing institutional adoption of DeFi,” DeMartino said. 

“The future of finance is decentralized — but not disorganized,” he added. And, honestly, what a fun way to put it.

Meanwhile, IntoTheBlock’s CEO Jesús Rodríguez will take the helm as CTO. 

But the merger isn’t the only news they announced. They also raised $25 million in a Series A funding round led by New Form Capital, with Joint Effects and Tribe Capital. Ripple was noted as a strategic ecosystem investor. 

"Institutional capital won’t move into DeFi without strong risk management and compliance frameworks. Sentora provides both — without sacrificing performance," New Form’s Alex Marinier noted.

So let’s zoom out.

We’re seeing a rise in these types of M&A deals, in which crypto firms are looking to create a platform that can cater to multiple needs for clients, like institutional investors. We’re also just plain seeing an uptick in M&A activity. That’s a trend I wouldn’t expect to go away anytime soon.

Let’s take a look at some (brand-spanking-new) data from Blockworks Research, shall we?

You can see above that finance is one of the top sectors to consolidate. This makes sense because we’re going to see a lot more competition as this space heats up and institutional investors look to find a platform that can meet most of their needs. 

Who wants to have multiple platforms when you can find one that fulfills your needs, right? It simplifies it, and projects will cater to what the market’s looking for (see the deal above).

As you can see, crypto deal activity is starting to pick up. Just remember: we’re likely going to stay a ways off from those crazy 2021 levels for a while. 

This is just yet another sign of maturity in the space.

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• The lawyers representing Samourai Wallet claimed prosecutors withheld evidence, and they want the case dismissed. 

• eToro’s eyeing a $4 billion valuation as the firm prepares to go public through an initial public offering. 

• President Donald Trump’s crypto ties have some Democrats concerned about legislation.

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June 24–26 in Brooklyn.

The sun is shining, M&A activity is on the rise, venture capital spending is making a smooth recovery…and bitcoin’s so back. 

Bitget Research’s Ryan Lee says that the rise in active addresses, which just topped a six-month high, could mean that bitcoin breaks above $100,000. Woohoo. 

Meanwhile, Amberdata’s Greg Magadini noted that 70 companies worldwide are actively adding bitcoin to their balance sheet, which — when paired with inflows to the bitcoin ETFs — is a bullish sign for price action. 

But keep an eye on Washington, DC. It looks like tensions are rising around certain pieces of legislation: the stablecoin bill and the market structure bill. 

At the center of this are President Donald Trump’s crypto ties. 

My take for now is that we’re stuck in a wait-and-see moment. Hopefully we continue to see movement on both pieces of legislation, though, because a lot of the current bullishness rides on it.