Exits & Deep Reads

Crypto exchanges want to be more boring (TWIF 3/23)

Hello Fintech Friends,

Kraken announced this week that it will acquire retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more crypto exchanges choosing to blend crypto access with conventional, "boring" asset classes in order to make themselves a one-stop shop for consumer investing and further legitimize crypto as a portfolio option. Robinhood, which launched crypto trading in 2018, is approaching the same model from the opposite end. As consumer demand continues to grow and regulatory treatment softens, conventional exchanges would be wise to think about a hybrid strategy as a defensive moat.

Another interesting story this week was that of small business lender SmartBiz, which acquired its own bank this week in order to offer small business banking services and lower its cost of capital. More and more lenders have decided that bank acquisitions are the best path to growth at scale, such as peer-to-peer lenders Lending Club, which acquired Radius Bank in 2021, and Zopa, which launched its bank in 2020.

Please find another week of fintech exits and deep reads below.

(👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know. Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm)

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📖 Reads of the Week

☯️ Exits

💻 IPOs & SPACs

🤝 M&A - Fintech

US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken agreed to a $1.5 billion deal to acquire NinjaTrader, a U.S. retail futures trading platform, aiming to expand its user base and diversify into other asset classes.
Flourish, a wealthtech platform, agreed to acquire Sora Finance, an AI-driven liability optimization platform for advisors.
Small business lender SmartBiz announced its acquisition of United Community Bancshares and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Centrust Bank. The combined entity, renamed SmartBiz Bank, received regulatory approval from the OCC and the Fed to serve small businesses across the U.S.
Fiserv, an American core banking provider, acquired CCV, a Dutch payment solutions provider serving approximately 600,000 businesses across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. The acquisition aims to accelerate the deployment of Fiserv's Clover platform across Europe.
US crypto exchange Coinbase, entered advanced talks to acquire Deribit, a crypto derivatives exchange. The potential deal, valued between $4 billion and $5 billion, aims to bolster Coinbase's derivatives offerings amid the growing popularity of crypto futures and options.

@Fiserv just made a major play to capture more market-share in Europe.

The payments giant acquired CCV, a Dutch paytech with a 67-year history, expanding its @clovercommerce platform across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. 👇
— Nik (@NikMilanovic) March 20, 2025

🏦 M&A - Bank and FinServ

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, a French banking group, plans to acquire German lender Oldenburgische Landesbank for close to €2 billion euros, strengthening its presence in Germany and making the combined entity the 10th largest banking group in the country by assets.
J. Safra Sarasin, a Swiss private banking group, agreed to acquire a majority stake in Saxo Bank, a Danish online trading and investment provider, in a deal valued at approximately $1.21 billion.
CVC Capital Partners, a European private equity firm, expressed interest in acquiring Fortress Investment Group, an American investment management firm backed by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala.

Rippling sued @Deel today. Our lawsuit alleges Deel cultivated a spy at Rippling & orchestrated a long-running trade-secret theft. The spy searched “deel” in our systems 23 times per day on avg, letting him spy on Deel’s own customers who were considering a switch to Rippling. pic.twitter.com/94Lga5vXc1
— Parker Conrad (@parkerconrad) March 17, 2025

💡

Sponsored Content

In 2015, Current designed a proprietary, cloud-native core banking platform, setting it apart from almost every other traditional financial institution (FI) and fintech in the U.S. and abroad.

Download the report by Datos Insights.