M&A in crypto up nearly 5,000% in 2021; average deal size triples: PwC report

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The value of mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals in the cryptocurrency space jumped by nearly 5,000 percent in 2021 to nearly $55 billion, per a PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report.Average deal sizes in the space have also tripled to $179.7 million in 2021 from $52.7 million in 2020, mirroring the rally of cryptocurrency prices in 2021 and the growing activity within the space in the last couple of years.The value of the top 10 M&A deals, as per the report, was in billions in 2021 from just millions in 2020. The most significant acquisition during the year was that of Far Peak acquiring Bullish (GI) for more than $8 billion.

None of the deals in the top ten dipped below the billion-dollar mark.Also Read:Cryptocurrency big threat to India’s macroeconomic stability: RBI Guv Shaktikanta DasThe PwC research also showed that fundraising across crypto companies increased eightfold to reach a record high of $34 billion in 2021. This is a monumental increase of 645 percent as compared to 2020.

According to the report, the top five investors, in order of deal count, were AU21, Genesis Block Ventures, Genblock Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Moonwhale.A major chunk of crypto fundraising shifted back to the United States, with over 51 percent of deals occurring there. This is a substantial increase from the previous year's 41 percent.Despite this increase, Europe and EMEA surpassed the US in total deal value, even though they only account for 33 percent of the deals globally.

The report put this discrepancy down to the fact that several special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deals were led out of the EMEA region. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for the remaining 13 percent, garnering $5 billion in fundraising deals.The big