The Potential of Crypto M&A
Looking back 2018 will be characterized as one of the most important years in the evolution of the crypto industry. 2018 will be the year of legitimacy. Many view the recent increase in ICO regulation by the SEC and the additional AML and KYC requirements as a negative, however these actions bring more and more legitimacy and stability to the industry. We can still find overpriced ICOs, top 100 CMC (Coin Market Cap) shit coins, and all together scams, but it is clear the crypto industry is maturing, and it’s doing it fast.
As with every developing industry, consolidation becomes a part of the day-to-day (just ask cyber companies). In many cases, coins/tokens will just fall of the grid and disappear quietly after spending a lot of its investors’/speculators’ money on flat screen TVs (yes, we had one — Useless Ethereum Token) or lavish worldwide roadshows, but in other cases M&A will be considered a viable path forward.
Some of the more traditional M&A activity has already started in the crypto world — in March, Coinbase hired Emilie Choi (former head of Corporate Development for LinkedIn) and soon thereafter executed the acquisition of Earn. We saw additional activity in the exchange space when Circle (backed by Goldman?) announced the acquisition of Poloniex. In both acquisitions, the buyers executed a deal that helped them access new technologies, people, and end…
