The crypto industry is in a decisive phase. Territorial claims are now being staked out because a „regulation light“ model is emerging in the US under President Donald Trump. This is illustrated by the increase in deal activity. Following Robinhood's Bitstamp takeover, and Stripe's Bridge Network acquisition, Coinbase is now reaching for the derivatives trader Deribit.

The indicative valuation of Deribit is between 4 and 5 billion dollars. This suggests that the crypto platform Coinbase, which is valued at 38 billion dollars on the stock exchange, wants to put some real money behind it. However, there is also a need for decisive action. This is because the crypto platforms established in the first wave of founders have focussed entirely on spot trading for too long. What institutional investors need is the combination of spot and futures markets. This allows them to implement their strategies, which are centred around hedging. It is therefore no coincidence that Deribit, the market leader in futures contracts on crypto assets, began adding free spot trading to its futures and options trading last year.

The 1.5 billion dollar acquisition of the futures platform Ninja by Kraken has already shown that the M&A business in the crypto sector is gaining momentum. Thanks to generous fees, the platforms have built up the necessary war chest. Strategically, it makes sense for Coinbase and Kraken to position themselves in the same way as stock exchange operators. At Deutsche Börse, Eurex as a derivatives market is the big brother of the equities business.

The stablecoin market is crystallising as a second M&A focus. While Stripe is focussing on scaling stablecoins as a traditional means of payment with the integration of Bridge Network, others are aiming to use them as a dollar equivalent for the purchase of government bonds. The US sees stablecoins as a geostrategic tool to expand its dollar dominance. This is where Europe must position itself.