Fireblocks

Crypto · Fintech · Payments

Acquisition

Visa reportedly in late-stage talks to buy Fireblocks for $2.5B

The price marks a steep markdown from the crypto custodian's last private valuation, reflecting how far digital-asset multiples have fallen.

• Visa is reportedly in late-stage talks to acquire crypto custody and stablecoin infrastructure firm Fireblocks for about $2.5 billion, according to Axios, citing multiple sources.
• Founded in 2017-2018, Fireblocks builds infrastructure for institutional crypto custody, stablecoin settlement and asset tokenization, serving more than 2,500 institutions including Worldpay and Euronet.
• Fireblocks publicly denied the talks, with a spokesperson calling the acquisition report "news to us, and not true at present time."
• The reported $2.5 billion price would be roughly 69% below Fireblocks' last valuation of $8 billion, set in January 2022 when it raised $550 million in a Series E led by D1 Capital Partners and Spark Capital.
• Anonymous sources had also told CoinDesk that Coinbase was separately in the running to acquire Fireblocks before the Visa talks surfaced.
• It would be Visa's second Israeli acquisition in months, following its $2.4 billion deal for fraud-detection firm BioCatch announced in August, which is still awaiting regulatory approval.
• A deal would show how major card networks are racing to own digital-asset infrastructure directly rather than partner for it, even as steep valuation cuts reveal how much crypto infrastructure pricing has cooled since 2022.