Architect Partners

Read Architect Partners Full Report of Q2 2024 linked below. "State of the Crypto Markets   Since our founding fifteen years ago, we have published strategy and market research that we call Architect Insights to separate the signal from the noise. We do our best to speak in plain language, simplify without losing the nuance, present the facts clearly and in context, and share a bit of perspective. Each of our team members has earned perspective from direct experience closely collaborating with senior management, Boards of Directors, and investors for multiple decades.    Major Positive Inflection Point Happening Now We are now beginning a major growth phase for the crypto and digital asset industry, which will make our past look quaint. This Architect Partners Q2 2024 M&A and Financing Report highlights why we have confidence in that statement. Highlights include:    Confidence and Momentum are Back As the second quarter of 2024 ends, our self-induced crypto winter is past. Professionalism, risk management, ethical behavior, and “doing it right” are finally becoming the foundational principles of crypto. When challenging situations arise, I’m often reminded that the eventual resolution is worth the journey. Crypto, as an industry, is now in a far better place than two years ago.     Crypto Has Surpassed the Internet for the First Time Architect Partners published “Family Ties: The Internet & Crypto” earlier this year. Our thesis, born from personal experience with both disruptions, is that the internet and crypto have strikingly similar distinguishing characteristics.   A refresh of our data-led analyses validates the claim that crypto is in a “far better place” today. For the first time in history, the total value created by the crypto industry has now exceeded the pace of the internet. (see page 4)     Green Lights are Flashing for Crypto Mergers & Acquisitions  The announced transaction value in Q2 2024 exceeds the combined value from the past eight quarters, at $2.7B, a crypto sector record high. (see page 5)     Private Financings are Recovering Seed and early-stage financings remain active and comprise the majority of transaction count and capital committed. Growth stage financings remain muted. (see page 6)     Public Companies Increasingly Active The Architect Partners Crypto Index of public market value was up 24% year-to-date. Bitcoin outperformed with a 35% gain, but crypto beat the overall equities market, as represented by the S&P 500’s gain of +15% over the same period. (see page 7)     Other Highlights We’ve also conducted a deep dive into subsector dynamics and much more in the following report. We always appreciate feedback and comments, and as always, our team stands ready if you are considering strategic financing or M&A. Our full team contacts can be found on page 43.     Eric F Risley Founder & Managing Partner June 29, 2024" https://lnkd.in/gGUhPEFX  

We are pleased to be in the middle of a clear pickup in crypto M&A activity recently. Today our Partner, Elliot Chun, shared his perspective with Talia Kaplan on CNBC Crypto World. https://lnkd.in/gT99jQA6

Read about Talos' acquisition of Skolem Technologies in this week's Crypto M&A Snapshot. Eric Risley goes in-depth on the transaction and the broader OMS/EMS space in both the traditional and digital asset markets. https://lnkd.in/ggzWzYWE

Read Elliot Chun's perspective on Memecoins and stocks, The Attention Economy, and other general crypto market updates in this week's Crypto Public Company Snapshot. "The “Attention Economy” exists. This references anything that humans invest seconds of their day doing. If time is our most valuable asset (and it is), theoretically, we all assign real value to things that we spend time on. Human society invests meaningful amounts of time on social media, but there is little ability to assign value to that time spent. If one were to sit in any Web2 (Social Media) executive meeting in the late 90s, the key topic to address was “how do we monetize our website?”. With the limited technology options available at that time (online credit card payments were just emerging), the answer became online advertising. In 2024, social media’s primary monetization method remains advertising." https://lnkd.in/gefSHT4Y

Our most active week in a long time with 6 M&A Transactions. Read Eric Risley's perspective on an active week, highlighting Kraken Digital Asset Exchange's acquisition of TradeStation's Crypto Division and Infinite Reality's acquisition of Stake. https://lnkd.in/gQvBAZCU

Read Elliot Chun's long-form perspective on the little plastic cards that run the world and how crypto-backed payments can eventually displace those cards. "While “credit” has been around since the invention of banks, the modern credit card is rumored to have been invented in the 1940s with the modern debit card following in the 1960s. Fast forward 7 decades and these cards are used for the vast majority of today’s payments, both in-person and online. Mastercard in 2023 had over $9T in Gross Dollar Volume; Visa had $12T in payments volume."

Architect's Q1 2024 Crypto M&A and Financing Report is now available. Crypto Mergers & Acquisitions: The market tone continues to improve, but M&A activity is still running below 2022 levels. Crypto Private Financings: A significant rebound compared to 2023, but there is a lack of conviction in later-stage growth capital financings. Crypto Public Companies: Public crypto markets had mixed results in Q1.   

Blockchain technologies represent an important new phase in computing infrastructure with broad implications. In the immediate future, it will have a transformative impact on multiple business operations. Architect Insight's most recent report takes a look at blockchain in the enterprise and the financial environment affecting its growth. Read Glenn Gottlieb's Blockchain for the Enterprise below.