Despite Crypto Depression, M&A Deals Set New Record

&l;figure class=&q;image-embed embed-0&q;&g;&l;div&g;&l;img src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/924996176/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; alt=&q;Circle Internet Financial, backed by Goldman Sachs, acquired Poloniex for a U.S. record $400 million.&q; data-height=&q;3456&q; data-width=&q;5184&q;&g;&l;/div&g;&l;figcaption&g;&l;fbs-accordion&g;&l;p class=&q;color-body light-text&q;&g;Circle Internet Financial, backed by Goldman Sachs, acquired Poloniex for a U.S. record $400 million.&l;small&g;Getty Images&l;/small&g;&l;/p&g;&l;/fbs-accordion&g;&l;/figcaption&g;&l;/figure&g;&l;p&g;As the cumulative market cap for cryptocurrencies dropped from an all-time high of $813 billion in 2018 to just $130 billion at the end of the year, the industry was quietly consolidating at a historic rate. A record $559 million worth of cryptocurrency-related mergers and acquisitions deals took place in the United States in 2018, according to data provided to &l;em&g;Forbes&l;/em&g; by Pitchbook, a financial database for investors. The previous record was set in 2010, when $353 million in deals were recorded.&l;/p&g;&l;p&g;As skeptics of cryptocurrency and other applications of blockchain have been scared away by the drop in prices, the high volume of behind-the-scenes movement shows a consolidation of resources and talent that could help the industry mature going forward. Much of the M&a;amp;A activity was driven by a few high-dollar deals. &l;/p&g;&l;p&g;A table of the largest industry M&a;amp;A deals in the U.S., also provided to &l;em&g;Forbes,&l;/em&g; showed that four of the ten occurred last year. The largest U.S. cryptocurrency-related acquisition of all time happened in February 2018 when crypto finance company Circle bought the Poloniex cryptocurrency exchange for $400 million. Also last year, crypto exchange Coinbase bought tasks platform Earn for $120 million, blockchain analytics firm Blockseer was purchased for $14.8 million and bitcoin tax firm Node40 was purchased for $14.7 million.&l;/p&g;&l;fbs-ad position=&q;inread&q; progressive&g;&l;/fbs-ad&g;&l;p&g;Last year's U.S. cryptocurrency and blockchain activity was also notable for the &l;em&g;number &l;/em&g;of deals. Pitchbook tracked a record 54 industry deals last year, a whopping 170% higher than the previous record, set in 2017, when 20 deals were closed.&l;/p&g;&l;p&g;In total, Pitchbook tracked $1.1 billion of U.S. crypto M&a;amp;A activity since 2008, meaning that almost half of all industry deals occurred last year. Total U.S. M&a;amp;A deals also increased in 2018, according to Pitchbook's annual M&a;amp;A report, but at a significantly lower rate. Between 2017 and 2018, deals increased 6.8% to $2 trillion.&l;/p&g;&l;div class=&q;vestpocket&q; vest-pocket&g;&l;/div&g;&l;p&g;So far, 2019 is shaping up to be another record-breaking year for blockchain M&a;amp;A. In the U.S. alone, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken spent $100 million on CryptoFacilities, a U.K.-based cryptocurrency futures platform; Coinbase bought blockchain APIs startup Blockspring for an undisclosed amount; and Facebook made its first blockchain deal, spending an undisclosed amount on the smart contracts startup Chainspace.&l;/p&g;&l;p&g;&l;strong&g;&l;em&g;Be among the first to get important crypto and blockchain news and information with Forbes Crypto Confidential. &l;/em&g;&l;/strong&g;&l;a href=&q;http://bit.ly/2nP7Hek&q; target=&q;_blank&q; class=&q;color-accent&q;&g;&l;strong&g;&l;em&g;Sign up for free now&l;/em&g;&l;/strong&g;&l;/a&g;&l;strong&g;&l;em&g;.&l;/em&g;&l;/strong&g;&l;/p&g;&q;,&q;bodyAsDeltas&q;:&q;