The consolidation of cryptocurrency-related companies surged massively in 2020, hitting a new record in deal activity, according to a new report by professional services network PwC.
The total volume of mergers and acquisitions in the crypto industry more than doubled from $481 million in 2019 to $1.1 billion in2020, PwC said in a Monday market overview, as seen by Bloomberg.
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The average deal size in crypto surged from $19 million in 2019 to nearly $53 million, with crypto fundraising increasing 33% in overall value in 2020. Countries in the EMEA region saw a notable spike in the number of deals, while the Americas recorded a threefold growth in deal value.
Following new highs last year, deal activity in the crypto industry is likely to continue growing in 2021. PwC global crypto leader Henri Arslanian said that 2021 is “already on track to significantly surpass it from every single metric” as institutional players and high-profile investors are moving into the industry.
Alongside greater consolidation in crypto, PwC also predicted that the industry will become more institutionalized. The survey reportedly cited major gains in the crypto market — with Bitcoin hitting its all-time high of over $61,000 in mid-March — as well as the growing adoption of central bank digital currencies, stablecoins, decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens, also known as NFTs.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, major global cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, FTX and Coinbase made the top three acquisitions in the crypto industry in 2020.
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