Crypto sector braces for 'enormous wave' of mergers and acquisitions: Bullish chief executive
Numerous cryptocurrency firms are on the verge of a harsh reality check, discovering that "they don't have businesses, they have products," according to Tom Farley, CEO of Bullish.
A wave of acquisitions targeting smaller cryptocurrency projects by industry giants appears inevitable, potentially resulting in a significantly more unified sector over the coming months, according to Tom Farley, chief executive officer of Bullish.
"I was in the exchange sector during continual massive consolidation…the same thing is going to happen starting right now in crypto," Farley stated in a Friday interview with CNBC.
The former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) president, who held the position until 2018, highlighted that the current cryptocurrency market downturn will serve as a primary driver, noting that Bitcoin (BTC) has plummeted nearly 45% from its October peak of $126,100 and was valued at $69,405 when he made his comments, based on CoinMarketCap data.
Farley says the consolidation should have already happened
Nevertheless, Farley emphasized that this industry-wide consolidation ought to have occurred much sooner, but unrealistic valuations sustained artificial optimism. "It should have happened a year or two ago," he stated.
"People were still holding onto this hope that they'd get 2020 valuations, and so we'd have conversations with companies that would say, hey, we have $10 million in revenue, it's not growing, we want $200 million to buy the company," he explained.
"That dream is going to be over," Farley stated, further noting that "people are going to realize they don't have businesses, they have products, and they need to merge up, and they need to scale, and that is going to happen."
The consolidation phenomenon within the cryptocurrency sector presents a double-edged sword. While struggling projects may find themselves acquired by more established enterprises, this transition can result in workforce redundancies, employee terminations, and organizational turbulence throughout the industry as firms combine operations or cease activities.
In September 2025, Eva Oberholzer, chief investment officer at venture capital firm Ajna Capital, explained to Cointelegraph that VC organizations have adopted a considerably more discerning approach when selecting which cryptocurrency projects receive funding, attributable to the market's evolution.
"It's harder because we have reached a different stage in crypto, similar to every cycle we have seen for other technologies in the past," Oberholzer told Cointelegraph.