The current wave of acquisitions is a transfer ceremony for the cryptocurrency industry as it transitions from the wild west era to a compliant infrastructure, cruel yet real.

Written by: Blockchain Knight

Bear markets are often the golden period for giants to quietly do great things. In the past month, at least five typical acquisitions in the cryptocurrency industry have been observed.

From Samsung Securities acquiring 2% of Upbit operator Dunamu; Robinhood acquiring WonderFi for $180 million to enter the Canadian cryptocurrency market; Figure spending $717 million to acquire Kiavi to venture into on-chain real estate credit; asset management giant Franklin acquiring 250Digital to establish Franklin Crypto; and, of course, Messari being sold off at a significant loss.

The most lamentable is Blockworks acquiring Messari. Messari was once valued at up to $300 million at the end of the 2022 bull market, but is now being sold for just over $10 million, a discount of more than 90%.

Once overvalued crypto startups face immense pressures of survival and cash flow, while cash-flow-stable media and data giants like Blockworks can swallow competitors at extremely low costs, completing resource integration.

Faced with increasingly stringent global regulations, the giants no longer choose to barge in but rather expand quickly by acquiring localized licensed institutions that have been vetted by regulators.

For example, WonderFi owns two well-established compliant platforms in Canada; Robinhood essentially bought a ticket into the Canadian market along with 300,000 ready-made users.

Similarly, Upbit is the most compliant exchange in South Korea, with traditional brokerage giants directly taking stakes, laying the groundwork for future integration of traditional finance and crypto assets.

The acquisition by Figure is the largest transaction in recent times, signaling that RWA has evolved from storytelling to a true on-chain traditional asset worth billions.

Kiavi can generate over $7 billion in transaction volume annually, and Figure is integrating its residential loans directly into the on-chain capital market, which means blockchain technology's value as the next-generation foundational layer for financial clearing and settlement has been recognized.

Franklin Crypto clearly aims to serve pension and sovereign wealth funds. These institutions manage trillions of dollars and, in the past, could not touch crypto assets due to compliance and risk controls, but Wall Street is now directly customizing active management strategies for them.

For giants like Samsung, Robinhood, and Franklin Templeton, who possess strong strategic stability, the bear market is not terrifying; instead, it is the best time to enter.

In a bull market, even a mediocre project can claim a valuation of hundreds of millions; the giants simply take over. In a bear market, as market bubbles are squeezed out, you can buy the technological frameworks and compliance teams that took years to build for a fraction of the price, at 1/10 of the original cost.

Moreover, a bull market is filled with speculation, while in a bear market retail investors exit, providing giants the opportunity to test various infrastructure.

Financial giants typically look at macro cycles of 3-5 years. With the implementation of global cryptocurrency tax frameworks and compliance laws, the cryptocurrency industry is moving from the wild west toward institutionalization.

Once the global macroeconomic cycle shifts and liquidity improves, they will reap the lion's share of benefits, leaving later entrants far behind.

The current wave of acquisitions is a transfer ceremony for the cryptocurrency industry as it transitions from the wild west era to a compliant infrastructure, cruel yet real.