Citi-backed crypto infrastructure firm Talos acquires Coin Metrics in deal worth over $100 million

Talos, a crypto infrastructure firm and unicorn backed by heavyweights including Citibank and Andreessen Horowitz, has acquired blockchain data provider Coin Metrics.

The deal closed at over $100 million, a source with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to The Block. Fortune first reported the news.

In an interview with Fortune, Talos co-founder and CEO Anton Katz said the acquisition supports the firm's goal of becoming a "one-stop shop" for institutions looking to enter crypto trading and portfolio management, describing Coin Metrics as a leader in on- and off-chain data. "Digital assets are actually changing how finance is doing things behind the scenes," he said, citing Robinhood's move into tokenized stocks. "This is the next evolution for us. Our bet is that digital assets are going to be the underlying technology of financial markets."

New York-based Talos was founded in 2018 by Katz and fellow Wall Street veteran Ethan Feldman on the belief that crypto would become an institutional asset class. By connecting to both centralized exchanges like Coinbase and decentralized alternatives like Uniswap, Talos aims to deliver advanced trading infrastructure for institutional crypto trading.

Katz said he's known the Boston-based Coin Metrics team since both firms started, noting the deal offers deeper historical and onchain data for Talos. Talks began about four months ago, and Talos plans to fully integrate Coin Metrics without raising extra capital for the deal.

While an initial public offering is also a consideration amid Circle's recent blockbuster IPO and crypto firms like Gemini and Kraken weighing up the move, Katz added that Talos is "not ready to make any strong commitments" at this time.

The Block reached out to Talos and Coin Metrics for further comment.

Crypto M&A on the rise

This latest deal comes amid a sharp rise in mergers and acquisitions across the crypto industry this year, fueled by a more positive crypto regulatory environment under the Trump administration in the U.S., market consolidation, and a drive to scale infrastructure. 

Recent high-profile deals include Coinbase's record $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, Kraken's $1.5 billion purchase of NinjaTrader, Ripple's $1.25 billion takeover of Hidden Road, Stripe's $1.1 billion deal for stablecoin platform Bridge, and Robinhood's completion of its $200 million Bitstamp acquisition.

Talos was valued at $1.25 billion when it raised $105 million in a Series B funding round in 2022. Besides Citibank and a16z, Talos' investors include Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, BNY Mellon, PayPal Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, and Fidelity Investments. Coin Metrics previously raised $35 million in a 2022 round led by BNY Mellon and Acrew Capital, with additional support from Goldman Sachs, Brevan Howard Digital, Cboe Global Markets, Avon Ventures, and others.