acquiring

According to CoinDesk, Binance founder CZ stated in his autobiography "Freedom of Money" that during a phone call before Binance attempted to acquire FTX in November 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried casually asked him for tens of billions of dollars, "like ordering a bologna sandwich," and he had no intention of actually pushing the deal forward from the start.CZ wrote: "I had no interest in owning FTX, and I wasn't particularly interested in helping SBF either. But we might have to step in to protect users and the entire industry." He mentioned that he signed the non-binding letter of intent (LOI) just for formality: "I had already made it clear at the time that we would not make any commitments. Our team was just assessing the data before deciding."Regarding the collapse of FTX, CZ believes the key turning point was when former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison publicly proposed to buy back the FTT held by Binance at a price of $22 (attempting to stabilize the market), which she made a "fatal mistake." "She effectively exposed the price floor," CZ wrote. Subsequently, professional traders quickly shorted FTT below that price. In just 72 hours, about $6 billion flowed out of FTX.CZ also revealed a Signal group called "Exchange Collaboration," created by former FTX institutional sales head Zane Tackett during the Terra (LUNA) collapse that year, with members including CZ, SBF, Brian Armstrong (Coinbase CEO), Jesse Powell (founder of Kraken), and other exchange executives. The group later attracted the attention of investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. "They were very eager to find evidence of collusion or market manipulation between exchanges, but in fact, such situations did not exist," CZ stated.

According to Herald Economy, Korea Investment & Securities is considering acquiring shares in the digital asset exchange Coinone to respond to competitor Future Asset Group's acquisition of Korbit. Korea Investment & Securities is currently communicating with financial authorities and political circles, and has not yet reached an agreement on specific terms with Coinone representatives.Coinone is the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, with a market share in the double digits, but has reported losses for three consecutive years. Financial authorities are advancing restrictions on major shareholders of exchanges, and some of the 53.44% shares held by Coinone representatives are expected to be sold. Korea Investment & Securities has previously been less active in the digital asset space, and this acquisition would make it a "game changer." Coinone stated that it has not yet determined the specific cooperation model or partner.

Investment bank Mizuho stated that after acquiring the stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK, Mastercard is expected to become a "network connector" linking crypto assets with fiat currency systems, further expanding its payment ecosystem.Analysis indicates that stablecoins will not undermine Mastercard's core card payment business; instead, they will serve as an "accelerator" for its network, particularly in areas such as B2B cross-border payments, remittances, and the creator and gig economy, facilitating faster, lower-cost, 24/7 capital flow. Mizuho maintains an "outperform" rating on Mastercard and sets a target price of $666.Analysts believe that in the aforementioned emerging scenarios, the penetration rate of traditional bank cards remains relatively low, and stablecoins are expected to fill this gap, while card payments will continue to serve as the core entry point for consumers. It is reported that Mastercard has agreed to acquire BVNK for up to $1.8 billion. This transaction is seen as an important step in continuing its role as a "network connector," expanding its business into the conversion and settlement between stablecoins and fiat currencies.Against the backdrop of a gradually loosening regulatory environment and traditional payment giants like Visa and Stripe accelerating their layout in stablecoins, stablecoins are becoming an important growth direction for the global payment system.

According to official news, the Swedish listed company H100 Group has signed a letter of intent to acquire the Norwegian companies Moonshot AS and Never Say Die AS through an all-stock transaction. The transaction adopts a "Bitcoin for Bitcoin" structure, does not involve cash consideration, and does not dilute the existing shareholders' Bitcoin holdings.After the transaction is completed, H100's Bitcoin holdings will increase from the current 1,051 coins to approximately 3,501 coins.

According to CNN, a jury in California largely supported the claims of Twitter (now rebranded as X) shareholders on Friday, who accused billionaire Musk of making false statements before acquiring the social media company for $44 billion in 2022 and intentionally driving down the company's stock price. However, the jury did not find that Musk was involved in an overall scheme to defraud investors.This ruling concludes a civil class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by a group of Twitter shareholders in October 2022—just weeks before Musk officially took over the company. During the weeks-long trial, Musk was forced to testify in his defense. Musk initially agreed to acquire Twitter in April 2022 but attempted to back out of the deal in the following months, ultimately completing the acquisition.According to estimates from the plaintiffs' attorneys, the jury's awarded damages are expected to be around $2.5 billion, with the exact amount depending on the final number of people who apply to join the class action. Musk's lawyers stated that Musk plans to appeal the ruling. His law firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, noted that Musk has successfully appealed in other unrelated cases in Texas and Delaware recently.

The cryptocurrency company Ripple has announced plans to acquire payment company BC Payments Australia to obtain an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL). According to the arrangement, upon completion of the acquisition, Ripple will receive the Australian Financial Services License, which will become a necessary qualification for some cryptocurrency companies to provide financial services in Australia in the future.Ripple stated that after obtaining the AFSL, its payment business will be able to manage the entire transaction process in Australia, including customer onboarding, compliance, fund settlement, foreign exchange, liquidity management, and final payments, integrating traditional banking systems with digital asset networks.Over the past year, Ripple has been continuously advancing its global compliance strategy, having obtained payment-related licenses in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, and received conditional approval for a national trust bank license in the United States. At the same time, the company is also expanding its business footprint through acquisitions, including the acquisition of institutional broker Hidden Road (now Ripple Prime).

Mizuho analysts stated that if payment company Stripe advances a potential acquisition deal for PayPal, it will help them further expand from traditional merchant payment business into the consumer market.Previously, there were reports that Stripe is considering acquiring all or part of PayPal's business. In terms of scale, the deal is feasible. Stripe's latest valuation is approximately $159 billion, significantly higher than PayPal's market value of about $43 billion. Analysts believe that PayPal's large user base and its peer-to-peer payment app Venmo will provide Stripe with strong consumer brand and user network support. Additionally, PayPal's Braintree merchant payment infrastructure may also enhance Stripe's competitiveness in the payment processing market. Analysis indicates that Braintree could bring Stripe approximately $700 billion in total payment volume (TPV), while Stripe's current annual TPV is about $1.4 trillion.

According to Bloomberg, citing informed sources, payment processing company Stripe is considering acquiring all or part of PayPal's assets. The sources indicated that discussions are still in the early stages, and it is uncertain whether a deal will be reached. Representatives from both Stripe and PayPal declined to comment.PayPal fell 6.7% to $47.02 in New York on Tuesday, with a market capitalization of approximately $43.3 billion. Founded in the late 1990s, PayPal was a pioneer in digital payments but has struggled in recent years to maintain market share against competitors like Apple and Google, facing challenges in modernizing payment technology. Stripe, founded by brothers Patrick and John Collison, has become one of the most sought-after players in the industry. Earlier on Tuesday, Stripe announced a valuation of $159 billion through an employee tender offer.

According to Bloomberg, payment giant Stripe is exploring the possibility of acquiring the established fintech company PayPal, which may involve a complete acquisition or a partial asset purchase. Currently, negotiations are still in the preliminary stages, and Stripe has not commented on the related news.Stripe's latest valuation is approximately $159 billion, while PayPal's stock price has fallen nearly 40% over the past year. As a pioneer in the internet payment sector, PayPal has driven the adoption of digital wallets, but it faces growth pressures due to emerging competitors and the wave of digital assets. In recent years, Stripe has been continuously expanding into the cryptocurrency payment space, and this potential acquisition could reshape the competitive landscape of the global payment industry.

According to the Korea Times, South Korea's major financial group Mirae Asset is considering acquiring the local cryptocurrency exchange platform Korbit. Reports indicate that Mirae Asset is negotiating to acquire approximately 92% of Korbit's shares, with the transaction valued at up to 140 billion won (about 97 million USD).Mirae Asset, headquartered in Seoul, operates in asset management, wealth management, investment banking, and insurance, making it an important institution in South Korea's traditional financial sector. If the deal is finalized, it will be its first direct involvement in cryptocurrency-related business. Reports suggest that Mirae Asset's founder, Park Hyun-joo, has emphasized exploring opportunities for the integration of traditional assets and digital assets in recent years.Industry insiders point out that although Korbit has limited market presence, its years of accumulated financial experience may help it drive differentiated development in the future. Data shows that Korbit currently ranks fourth among six compliant trading platforms in South Korea by trading volume, with a 24-hour trading volume of approximately 11.8 million USD, significantly lower than Upbit (about 1.2 billion USD) and Bithumb (about 475 million USD), while the third place, Coinone, has about 58 million USD.

According to CNBC, Nvidia has agreed to acquire all assets of AI chip startup Groq for approximately $20 billion in cash (excluding its GroqCloud business), marking its largest acquisition to date.Groq was founded by a developer of Google's TPU core and focuses on low-latency AI inference chips. Although Groq claims that the agreement with Nvidia is a "non-exclusive technology licensing agreement," its founder and CEO Jonathan Ross and the executive team will join Nvidia, with Groq's CFO Simon Edwards taking on the role of new CEO and continuing to operate independently. Nvidia emphasized that it did not acquire Groq as a whole but is integrating its low-latency processor architecture into its AI platform.

The article from the Science and Technology Daily titled "The Acceleration of Digital Renminbi Applications: Beware of These Fraud Traps" reveals that Liu Xiaochun, director of the Shanghai Financial Digitalization Research Center, disclosed that some criminals are using instant messaging tools and other channels to spread information about purchasing digital renminbi wallets, lured by substantial returns. They then use the acquired digital renminbi wallets to carry out telecom fraud, money laundering, and other illegal activities. There are also criminals designing fake activity pages to extract personal information and steal funds.Dong Ximiao, deputy director of the Shanghai Financial and Development Laboratory, pointed out that preventing digital renminbi fraud hinges on recognizing its ordinary nature as legal tender, eliminating all notions of quick money-making, and protecting wallet passwords and verification codes just as one would protect physical cash.

According to a report by Reuters, Robinhood announced in a blog post on Sunday that it will acquire Indonesian brokerage firm Buana Capital Sekuritas and licensed digital asset trader Pedagang Aset Kripto, marking the retail trading platform's official entry into one of Southeast Asia's major cryptocurrency hubs.Indonesia has over 19 million capital market investors and 17 million cryptocurrency traders, highlighting its attractiveness in stock and digital asset trading. Acquiring a brokerage helps the company meet regulatory requirements and establish a business foothold, facilitating smoother entry into new markets; while acquiring a licensed digital asset trader can accelerate access to cryptocurrency products. Robinhood did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026. The company stated that Pieter Tanuri, the major shareholder of the two Indonesian companies, will continue to serve as a strategic advisor to Robinhood.

According to GlobeNewswire, Nasdaq-listed company Scilex Holding announced that it has completed its second investment in Datavault AI, which will be paid in Bitcoin (based on the spot price of Bitcoin at the time the strategic investment agreement was signed).It is reported that this investment allows it to acquire 263,914,094 shares of common stock in Datavault AI, valued at approximately $583.3 million based on a closing price of $2.21.

ChainCatcher news, according to market news, blockchain company Plasma, focused on stablecoin networks, announced a significant business expansion in Europe to provide regulated payment services.The company stated on Thursday that it has acquired an entity with a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license in Italy, allowing it to legally process cryptocurrency transactions and custody assets in the region. As part of its EU expansion plan, the company will open a new office in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer and Anti-Money Laundering Reporting Officer. Plasma did not disclose the name of the acquired entity, and its spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company also plans to apply for the Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) qualification under the new EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and to obtain an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license. These initiatives will enable Plasma to exchange assets, issue cards, and hold customer funds under regulatory protection. Plasma stated that its goal is to support its stablecoin-based new bank, Plasma One, through these licenses.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the fintech infrastructure company Smartpay, which supports stablecoin payments, has been acquired by the publicly listed business platform Rezolve AI. The acquisition was announced on Tuesday, but financial terms were not disclosed.Rezolve stated that this move will strengthen its digital asset payment program in collaboration with Tether, the issuer of the stablecoin USDT. This acquisition supports Rezolve's plan to build a blockchain-based payment network that allows consumers to make payments using digital assets while enabling merchants to maintain instant fiat currency transactions.

ChainCatcher news, according to GlobeNewswire, Nasdaq-listed company Scilex Holding announced that the previously disclosed initial investment transaction of $150 million in Bitcoin for Datavault AI has been completed.According to the investment terms, the company expects to receive a total of 278,914,094 shares of Datavault common stock, with an effective purchase price of $0.5378 per share.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Boyaa Interactive (00434.HK) announced that the group has completed its plan to purchase Bitcoin using approximately HKD 370 million raised from the placement, acquiring about 411 Bitcoins at an average purchase price of approximately USD 115,400 each. As of the announcement date, the group holds approximately 4,091 Bitcoins, with a total cost of about USD 279 million and an average cost of approximately USD 68,100 each. The company reminds shareholders and investors to be aware of the volatility in the cryptocurrency market.

ChainCatcher news, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder in the UK, Smarter Web Company, is considering acquiring a struggling competitor to expand its Bitcoin treasury.According to data from BitcoinTreasuries.NET, Smarter Web Company is the 25th largest corporate Bitcoin treasury in the world and the largest in the UK, currently holding 2,470 BTC, worth nearly $275 million. Webley also revealed that the company hopes to enter the FTSE 100 index.