Crypto M&A surge will continue as weaker firms are targeted

• Nearly four out of five (79%) professional investors predict the rising level of M&A in the market to increase over the next 12 to 24 months.

• 80% say they are more likely to allocate to funds which have protected capital during the market turmoil.

According to the research ⁽¹⁾ by London-based Nickel Digital Asset Management (Nickel), Europe’s leading regulated and award-winning digital assets hedge fund manager founded by Bankers Trust, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan alumni, institutional investors and wealth managers expect the level of M&A activity in the crypto sector to keep growing.

Nickel commissioned research with 200 professional investors from across seven countries who collectively manage around $2.2 trillion in assets and found nearly four out of five (79%) predict the rising level of M&A in the market to continue to increase over the next 12 to 24 months.

Increased M&A activity will not stop the launch of new funds investing in crypto and digital assets, the research shows, with more professional investors surveyed expecting a rise in the number of new funds compared with this expecting a fall in fund launches.

Around 43% predict a rise in the number of crypto and digital asset focused funds in the next 12 months compared with 36% predicting a cull of funds.

There is a strong consensus about the future for funds which have demonstrated ability to mitigate negative impact of the crypto sell-off on the underlying portfolios, with as much as 80% saying they are more likely to allocate to funds which have protected capital whilst demonstrating risk management acumen during the market turmoil.

Anatoly Crachilov, CEO and Founding Partner at Nickel Digital, said: “The failure of a few large centralized players in crypto space led to a wave of bankruptcies amongst the firms overexposed to them, setting the scene for a major M&A activity in the sector and, ultimately, leading to complete reshaping of competitive landscape.”

1. Nickel Digital commissioned the market research company Pureprofile to interview 95 wealth managers and 105 institutional investors across the US, UK, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, UAE and Brazil with results in last August 2022.