acquisition

ARK Invest Research Director lorenzoark suggested that Hyperliquid acquire the U.S. compliant trading platform Gemini, transforming it into a U.S. regulated HIP-3 and HIP-4 deployment platform. Hyperliquid is in contact with the CFTC and SEC to support U.S. regulated companies in offering perpetual contract trading and settlement on its public chain. Gemini went public in September 2025 with a valuation of $3.3 billion, and its current market value is approximately $450 million, down over 85% from its IPO. Its core business is under pressure, having scaled back operations in the UK, EU, and Australia, with staff reduced by about 40% from a peak of 402 to 402, and platform assets decreasing from $18.2 billion to $8.4 billion, with spot trading volume down 66%.Approximately $450 million would secure Gemini's complete U.S. regulatory license portfolio, including the NYDFS trust license, CFTC-regulated DCM (Gemini Titan), DCO (Gemini Olympus), an ongoing FCM, nearly all state MTLs, and broker-dealer licenses. In comparison, Kraken's parent company acquired Bitnomial for up to $550 million, making Gemini's overall market value lower. After the acquisition, it could inherit operational assets such as approximately 580,000 monthly active trading users, 1.72 million lifetime users, $8.4 billion in platform assets, quarterly spot volume of $3.8 billion, and approximately $180 million in annualized revenue.

Elon Musk stated that reports about SpaceX seeking to acquire Spectrum at a valuation of $6 billion are false.

Honeypot Finance announced the completion of its acquisition of the decentralized lottery protocol Play402. Play402 features low-cost participation, instant draws, and on-chain verifiable mechanisms, allowing users to pay 1 USDC to receive 100 tokens and a chance to enter the prize pool draw.This acquisition will complement Honeypot Finance's product landscape beyond liquidity, trading, token issuance, and on-chain infrastructure, and explore programmable rewards and interactive on-chain applications. Honeypot Finance stated that the integration direction of Play402 with its existing technology will be announced in subsequent announcements.

According to Axios, payment giant Stripe stated in a letter to investors that January 1 marks "the beginning of a singularity," viewing it as a significant turning point in a long-term trend, and believes that maintaining a private structure is best suited for this critical moment, with the IPO likely to remain on hold. The company reported a 41% year-on-year revenue growth in the first half of the year and a 43% increase in free cash flow; 88% of the companies in Forbes AI 50 (including OpenAI and Anthropic) are building on its platform, with revenue from AI and crypto companies more than doubling year-on-year.Stripe also confirmed the acquisition of the AI routing platform OpenRouter, with the transaction amount not publicly disclosed; Axios learned that the amount exceeds $8 billion and is primarily paid in stock. Stripe stated that remaining private helps advance mergers and acquisitions and long-term investments without diluting shareholders, with its equity count now lower than three years ago, and a compound annual return of about 31% since the D round. The company stated that the total payment volume on its platform is expected to reach $1.9 trillion by 2025, a year-on-year growth of 34%; in February this year, the employee stock purchase valuation was approximately $159 billion. There are also reports that Stripe is in discussions with Advent International to acquire PayPal for about $53 billion.

Market news reports that SpaceX (SPCX.O) attempted to acquire the AI programming startup Cognition.

On-chain data analysis tool Poolfish announced that it has been acquired by Metrix Finance. Poolfish stated that the original website will continue to operate, and all tools previously offered have been migrated to the Metrix platform, integrated with both existing and new features of Metrix, allowing users to access related services in one place.Poolfish introduced that after this acquisition, some experiences will change, but the availability of core tools and data services will continue; at the same time, Metrix will supplement the capabilities that Poolfish previously did not cover. The parties did not disclose the transaction amount or other financial terms.

According to Business Insider, Stripe is in talks to acquire the AI model marketplace startup OpenRouter for over $8 billion.If the deal goes through, the more than 17% stake held by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) will be worth nearly $1.5 billion, while it initially invested about $20 million; Menlo Ventures holds over 6% of the stake, having invested less than $50 million, and its current value has exceeded $500 million. The total return for the two institutions is close to $2 billion.

According to Caixin, Yushu Technology has not yet officially gone public, but trading around this popular new stock has already begun in advance. On second-hand trading platforms like Xianyu, there are multiple pieces of information regarding the acquisition and sale of Yushu Technology's new stock subscription rights. Currently, several intermediaries are acquiring this new stock through various channels, with significant discrepancies in pricing. Some intermediaries are offering 520 yuan/share (the issue price is 150.8 yuan/share), while others are quoting 410 yuan/share. Among some investors and intermediary groups, this type of trading is also referred to as "dark trading."At present, this trading remains a very small-scale activity. Many market participants, including brokers and public funds, have stated that they had not heard of any so-called "dark trading" related to new stock subscriptions on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board before. Its sudden emergence may be related to Yushu Technology's extremely low subscription rate and high expectations for listing gains. The recent private acquisitions of new stocks in the A-share market are based on informal verbal agreements and are not legally protected.

Market news indicates that Stripe is about to acquire the artificial intelligence company OpenRouter for over $7 billion. The final price of the acquisition may still fluctuate.It is reported that OpenRouter was established in 2023 and is positioned as an AI infrastructure platform that connects users with various large language models, allowing developers to call AI models from companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google through a unified interface, and choose different models based on performance, price, and availability.If the deal is completed, it will become one of Stripe's significant moves in the AI field in recent years. Stripe has previously focused mainly on payment infrastructure, financial services, and enterprise software, and the acquisition of OpenRouter may further drive its expansion into the AI developer infrastructure sector.Additionally, the tokenized asset data platform RootData shows that OpenRouter co-founder Alex Atallah is also a co-founder and CTO of OpenSea.

According to Techcrunch, acquisition negotiations between payment giant PayPal and Stripe, along with private equity firm Advent Global Opportunities, are heating up, and a deal may be reached in the coming weeks.In July, Stripe and Advent proposed to acquire PayPal for $60.50 per share, with a total transaction valuation of approximately $53 billion, but PayPal did not accept the offer at that time. However, insiders revealed that the negotiations have not been interrupted and are still ongoing.Neither PayPal nor Stripe has confirmed the related news. PayPal declined to comment, while Stripe stated that it would not respond to market rumors or speculation.This potential sale comes as PayPal seeks to reverse its growth challenges. After taking office in March this year, PayPal CEO Enrique Lores launched a restructuring plan that splits the business into three main areas: payment checkout and PayPal business, consumer financial services (including Venmo), and payment services and cryptocurrency business.Lores previously stated that PayPal would return to its identity as a technology company and strengthen its core payment capabilities. At the same time, the company plans to improve efficiency by cutting costs, with layoffs expected to reach 20% over the next two to three years.Founded in 1998, PayPal's founding team includes well-known Silicon Valley figures such as Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Max Levchin. The company experienced rapid growth during the e-commerce boom during the pandemic but has faced challenges such as slowing growth and pressure on its stock price in recent years. If the deal is finalized, it will become one of the largest acquisitions in the fintech industry in recent years.

Market news reports that Anthropic is reportedly set to spend $6 billion to acquire the artificial intelligence startup DeCart.

According to The Block, Nasdaq-listed trading investment platform eToro has agreed to acquire the American online brokerage TradeZero, with a transaction value of up to $231 million. This acquisition is an important step for eToro to expand its presence in the U.S. market and strengthen its services for active traders. ReutersThe announcement of the acquisition was released simultaneously with eToro's financial report for the second quarter of 2026. The report shows that eToro continued to achieve profit growth in the second quarter, with net contribution increasing by 9% year-on-year to $229 million, mainly driven by enhanced stock trading activity.Founded in 2015, TradeZero primarily serves active traders in the U.S. and operates in Canada and other international markets. eToro stated that after acquiring TradeZero, it will further expand its retail customer base in the U.S. and gain a stronger brokerage infrastructure, accelerating the launch of new products in the U.S. market. ReutersIn recent years, eToro has continuously strengthened its layout in digital assets and on-chain finance. The company previously acquired the self-custody crypto wallet service provider Zengo to enhance its digital asset capabilities and explore the integration of traditional finance with the on-chain economy. eToro's acquisition of TradeZero reflects its strategic direction in building a comprehensive financial ecosystem between stock trading, crypto assets, and multi-asset investment platforms. It is reported that the TradeZero transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027.

According to Bloomberg, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has launched the issuance of U.S. investment-grade bonds, just two weeks after the company announced its acquisition of the bond electronic trading platform MarketAxess for approximately $6 billion.Insiders revealed that ICE's bond issuance plan is divided into up to five parts, with maturities ranging from 3 to 10 years. The preliminary pricing guidance for the longest maturity bonds is about 1.15 percentage points above U.S. Treasury yields. ICE previously announced that it would acquire MarketAxess Holdings for approximately $6 billion to further expand its presence in the fixed income trading market. MarketAxess is one of the world's leading electronic bond trading platforms, primarily serving institutional investors and providing trading services for fixed income products such as corporate bonds and government bonds.This acquisition is seen as an important move by ICE to strengthen the infrastructure of the bond market. ICE currently owns the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), futures exchanges, clearinghouses, and data services, while MarketAxess's electronic bond trading network will help ICE further expand its ecosystem for trading fixed income assets.Market participants indicate that as bond trading gradually becomes electronic, traditional exchange operators are competing for institutional investment market share by acquiring trading platforms and data companies. This financing also reflects the trend of large financial infrastructure companies supporting strategic mergers and acquisitions through the debt market.

Bitcoin.com published an article stating that the model of Web3 startups conducting corporate pilots by paying traditional financial institutions "is a dead end," with 95% of pilot projects failing to reach production environments. Web2 companies only want the idle venture capital and revenue sharing from startups, rather than their open-source innovations. The article argues that true defensiveness comes from a "structural moat"—compliance licenses, deep network liquidity, or distribution lock-ins that Web2 engineering teams cannot replicate.The article cites recent cases: Stripe was acquired for $1.1 billion after proving an annual cross-border transaction volume of $5 billion with Bridge, and Robinhood acquired Bitstamp for $200 million to gain 50 global regulatory licenses and institutional liquidity, rather than maintaining long-term vendor relationships. The article predicts that the next round of B2C expansion will present an 80/20 pattern: 80% of retail liquidity will be controlled by 3 to 5 Web2/fintech giants such as Visa, Stripe, Robinhood, PayPal, and BlackRock, providing compliance and fiat entry; 20% will be an unlicensed DeFi sandbox for validating initial product-market fit. The growth path for startups should be to first validate PMF in the DeFi sandbox, then integrate or sell to the few Web2 gateways controlling the 80% distribution layer. The article believes that the current protocol cancellations and wave of startup closures are part of a "necessary market cleanup."

The insider information about the acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK by Mastercard for $1.8 billion has recently been revealed. BVNK's early investment firm Concentric disclosed that during the acquisition bidding process, the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase once held an advantage and reportedly made a top bid of $2.5 billion, but ultimately withdrew from the competition due to insufficient strategic and cultural fit between the two parties.Kjartan Rist, founding partner of Concentric, stated that the founding team of BVNK did not only focus on the bid amount when choosing an acquirer, but placed more importance on long-term partnerships and cultural alignment. "Although Coinbase may have offered a higher price, the chemistry between the two parties was not ideal." In contrast, Mastercard, as a traditional financial services company, found it easier to form synergies with BVNK in the areas of payment infrastructure and stablecoin applications.It is reported that Mastercard was involved in the acquisition discussions for BVNK early on, and after Coinbase failed to advance the deal, Mastercard re-emerged as the primary buyer, ultimately completing the acquisition for $1.8 billion.Visa also participated in the competition. Having previously invested in BVNK and holding a board observer seat, Visa once had an advantage. However, Visa ultimately chose not to pursue a direct acquisition, opting instead for an open strategy of collaborating with multiple stablecoin companies.BVNK was founded in 2018 and primarily provides stablecoin payment, cross-border settlement, and fund management infrastructure for enterprises. Its early investor Concentric invested in the company at a valuation of $4 million in 2019, and this transaction has resulted in significant returns.

According to Gate market data, Boeing plans to acquire shares of Archer Aviation, and the company's stock price surged 15% in pre-market trading.

According to the official announcement, the Swedish listed Bitcoin reserve company H100 has completed a Bitcoin acquisition transaction, purchasing 2,455.4 BTC at a price of approximately $62,900 per coin, increasing its total holdings to 3,506 BTC.It is reported that this transaction is the largest merger and acquisition deal in the European public Bitcoin equity sector and is also the world's first "Bitcoin for Bitcoin" merger and acquisition transaction in the public market. The entire transaction was paid for in H100 shares, with an implied share price of 1.86 Swedish Krona per share (1x mNAV), with no cash consideration. The fully diluted number of satoshis per share increased by approximately 5%, from 288 satoshis to 303 satoshis, and the acquired party holds no financial debt.