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Brisbane-based cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx is ramping up its global expansion plans after securing an agreement to acquire boutique digital assets brokerage Caleb & Brown – a company with a swag of high-net-worth investors in the US.
The deal for Melbourne-headquartered Caleb & Brown is the largest ever crypto acquisition in Australia and New Zealand, and while Swyftx has not disclosed financial details, it is understood to be worth more than $100 million.
Through the acquisition, Swyftx will bring to its stable a crypto brokerage and asset manager with operations across the US that it plans to grow further by leveraging the popularity of the digital asset class in the country.
Swyftx notes that the US currently accounts for about a quarter of all trade volumes in cryptocurrency globally, a position expected to be strengthened by US President Donald Trump’s plans to make the country the “crypto capital of the planet”.
The move to scoop up Caleb & Brown follows Swyftx’s acquisition in March this year of New Zealand’s largest crypto platform Easy Crypto, which has boosted the user base on the Swyftx platform to more than a million.
“Caleb & Brown has quietly established one of the most impressive brokerage offerings in the world, with a heavily differentiated private client service. We see enormous growth potential,” says Swyftx CEO Jason Titman.
“Swyftx has the resources to build on Caleb & Brown’s competitive advantages and peel off high-net-worth clients from the largest exchanges.
“There are polished and well-respected platforms operating in the US but a lot of the new breed of wealthy investors want a service that is ultra client-centric, with round-the-clock access to broker expertise. It is the kind of relationship management they get in traditional finance.”
Founded in 2016 by Rupert Hackett and Dr Prash Puspanathan, Caleb & Brown has a much lower client base than Swyftx's previous acquisition, Easy Crypto, but the boutique brokerage makes up for it through the quality of investors using its services.
The company has $2 billion of digital assets under custody from 29,000 clients in more than 100 countries, according to its LinkedIn profile.
Swyftx was founded in 2018 by Alex Harper and Angus Goldman, winners of the Brisbane Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2022, nominations for which opened this week.
Titman, who joined Swyftx as commercial director in 2022, was appointed CEO in June last year after Harper stepped aside.
“Over the next couple of years, we’ll look to significantly grow Caleb & Brown’s network of relationship managers so that we can target more wealthy clients from the big US exchanges on their home turf,” says Titman. “We see this as an underserved market.”
Caleb & Brown says it helps clients “navigate the complexities of buying, selling and swapping cryptocurrencies” through a 24/7 personal broker service. Apart from crypto brokerage, the firm also provides asset management and research services to its clients.
“We’re excited to join the Swyftx Group; it is the fastest-growing exchange in the ANZ region and shares our client-centric approach,” says Caleb & Brown CEO Jackson Zeng, who is also an equal partner in the company with the founders.
“This deal is a testament to the strength of our brokerage and its differentiated offering. Swyftx has the resources to help us scale faster, diversify our product offering and expand our geographic reach.”
Caleb & Brown has a team of 64 in Australia and the US, which will boost Swyftx’s employee numbers to almost 300 once the deal is finalised.
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