As Bitcoin's decline triggers massive layoffs in the crypto industry, M&A activity has surged. H1 2026 saw $9.37 billion in crypto M&A deals. Traditional financial institutions like Mastercard and Franklin Templeton are accelerating acquisitions of payment, custody, and compliance infrastructure, focusing on stablecoin applications and institutional-grade use cases. Pure decentralized projects and utility-less public chains are being shunned by capital.
Market Turmoil Drives Layoffs
The ongoing crypto market downturn, driven by Bitcoin's price decline, has led to widespread layoffs across the industry. However, beneath this wave of job cuts, M&A activity has surged to record levels.
M&A Wave: Traditional Capital Seizes Infrastructure
In the first half of 2026, total crypto M&A deal value reached $9.37 billion. Traditional financial institutions such as Mastercard and Franklin Templeton are rapidly acquiring payment, custody, and compliance licensing infrastructure, focusing on stablecoin applications and institutional-grade deployment scenarios. In contrast, purely decentralized projects and public chains without real-world utility are being neglected by capital.
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