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This Wednesday, Bitcoin outpaced stocks as launch pads surged. More importantly, this week’s update highlights a clear structural shift in how cryptocurrency markets are distributed.
We also take a look at mergers, acquisitions and fundraising over the past year, and note the explosive growth in M&A activity in the cryptocurrency space. Together, these trends point to a market in which infrastructure, not listing, has become the primary driver of scale and reach.
Indicators
Markets turned modestly towards risk over the past session, with cryptocurrencies and growth assets advancing while defenses lagged. Bitcoin outperformed on the day (+1.6%), while the Nasdaq 100 (+0.1%) and gold (+0.1%) were effectively flat, and the S&P 500 fell modestly (-0.4%), reinforcing the view that rising risk appetite was squarely concentrated in cryptocurrencies rather than the broader macro asset. Intraday volatility was noticeable across all lines, but dips were constantly bought, especially during the US trading window.
In the cryptocurrency space, the day bar was defined by a strong rotation in trading themes. Launchpads (+3.9%) led the pool by a large margin, followed by the Solana ecosystem (+2.3%) and DEXs (+2.1%). Cryptocurrency miners (+1.9%), tokens with buybacks (+1.9%), exchange tokens (+1.9%) and runs such as RWA (+1.9%) also finished in the green. On the other hand, several categories witnessed sharp declines. Gaming (-6.4%) was the clear laggard, with lending (-3.7%), revenue leaders (-3.5%), the Ethereum ecosystem (-3.5%), and memes (-3.4%) recording sharp declines.
Among the revenue leaders, HYPE (-3.0%) continues to underperform as concerns arise over sustainability, toll collection and competition. Meanwhile, AAVE (-3.8%) was the worst-performing asset in the index as concerns persist over the alignment of Aave Labs and the DAO. This is despite Aave founder Stani Kulichov swap Nearly $10 million worth of ETH is wrapped in AAVE to indicate “alignment” with the token.
Overall, market action indicates tactical rotations rather than a broad shift in risk aversion. Volatility remains high and flows appear selective. A continued follow-through will likely depend on BTC’s ability to hold on to recent gains and reassert leadership.
Market update
Jupiter has integrated with Coinbase’s onchain trading suite to power Solana-based asset swaps, bringing one of Solana’s most important liquidity layers directly to the main crypto interface. The integration allows users to trade Solana tokens via the Coinbase onchain experience, while Jupiter handles routing and execution via Solana DeFi in the background.
On average, Jupiter generates about $4 million in monthly revenue from its combined (hyper) offerings, and this integration paves the way for greater monetization.
So what’s really going on? Well, instead of listing new Solana assets directly into the central order book, Coinbase is leaning into Onchain Rails. Jupiter serves as the execution engine, pooling liquidity across Solana DEXs, optimizing routes, and settling trades on-chain, while Coinbase provides distribution, user experience, and on- and off-chain ports. For users, this means access to a much broader universe of Solana tokens than would normally be available through centralized listings, without having to leave the Coinbase ecosystem.
Coinbase is one of the world’s leading exchanges, with a large user base of $80-100 billion in average monthly spot trading volume.
Together, they significantly expand the reach of Solana native assets to retail users. Notably, Coinbase is not competing with Solana DeFi primary tools here, but rather integrating them. This reflects a broader shift in which centralized platforms increasingly act as front-ends for on-chain liquidity. The logic behind this is that network trading eliminates the long lead times associated with central exchange listing, allowing markets to form where liquidity already exists. Amid the market downturn, this integration may serve as a rerating catalyst for both COIN and JUP by expanding trading volume and revenue potential.
However, unauthorized markets cut both ways. Having access to more tokens also means exposure to illiquid or malicious assets, so verification and examination of liquidity and trading volume remains essential. The Jupiter-Coinbase integration is less about one partnership and more about a structural shift, as major exchanges increasingly rely on DeFi infrastructure to provide broader market access and Solana’s trading suite becomes harder to ignore.
Modernizing fundraising, mergers and acquisitions
Cryptocurrency M&A activity has seen radical growth over the past few quarters. M&A volume in November 2025 alone reached approximately US$10.7 billion, driven largely by Naver’s acquisition of Dunamu (operator of the Upbit exchange) for US$10.3 billion.
This follows a strong performance in the third quarter of 2025, where the value of cryptocurrency M&A transactions exceeded $10 billion for the first time, doubling the previous record of $5 billion and representing a 30-fold jump compared to the same period in 2024. By November 2025, the total value of M&A deals had reached $8.6 billion across 133 deals (excluding the massive Donamo deal), exceeding the four-year total. Previous. Mergers and acquisitions grew from $457,000 in the first quarter of 2021 to $4.2 billion in the second quarter of 2025, representing a nearly 9,000-fold increase.
This rise was led by major stock exchanges that implemented aggressive expansion strategies. Coinbase completed six acquisitions in 2025, including the $2.9 billion purchase of Deribit, the currently leading cryptocurrency options platform. Ripple acquired four companies, including the $1.25 billion purchase of brokerage firm Hidden Road, while Kraken completed five acquisitions, including NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion and Small Exchange for $100 million. Recent deals show continued momentum into December, with Paribu acquiring CoinMENA for $240 million, Stripe acquiring wallet provider Valora, Kraken acquiring token company Backed, and Galaxy acquiring liquid signature protocol Alluvial.
Cryptocurrency fundraising grew by almost 41%: from the previous cycle peak of $4.63 billion in January 2021 to a new high of $6.52 billion in July 2025.
Fundraising activity was strong throughout 2025, although with greater variation from month to month. Fundraising peaked in July 2025 at $6.5 billion before declining to about $4-5 billion per month during the third and fourth quarters. Notable recent raises include Kraken raising $800 million across two rounds in November (including $200 million from Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation), Kalshi raising $1 billion at a $11 billion valuation for its prediction markets platform, Monad completing a $188 million public sale at a $2.5 billion valuation, and RedotPay closing a $107 million Series B for cryptocurrency payments infrastructure. Year-to-date fundraising through November 2025 totaled about $36 billion, a significant rebound from the crypto winter years of 2023-2024 when monthly fundraising often struggled to exceed $1 billion.
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