March 27, 2025
In a cycle defined by down rounds, delayed listings, and dry powder that rarely deploys, M&A and secondary token sales are becoming the strategic moves that actually get done. One firm is stitching those deals together behind the scenes – Areta.
In 2021, capital was abundant, token valuations were aspirational, and exit plans were mostly theoretical. Fast forward to today, and the mood has shifted. Series A rounds are harder to close. Treasury runway is also thinning, and governance tokens once seen as moon-bound now trade thinly, if at all.
Amid this recalibration however, a quiet renaissance is emerging—one not built on hype cycles or Twitter threads, but on spreadsheets, legal memos, and, increasingly, mergers and acquisitions. For a growing number of Web3 projects, M&A isn’t a distress signal—it’s a strategy.
In traditional markets, consolidation follows capital scarcity. Crypto is no different—except the assets being consolidated are often smart contracts, communities, validator sets, and token treasuries.
Recent deals like Swyftx’s acquisition of Easy Crypto, or Swyke Group’s integration of Frens Validator (a transaction advised by Areta), mark the transition from growth-at-all-costs to efficient expansion and ecosystem control. Infrastructure players aren’t just surviving—they’re absorbing.
It’s not just centralized entities driving the action. DAOs are merging treasuries, combining governance structures, and executing token-based acquisitions through proposals and votes—a chaotic but deeply native form of capital reallocation.
A 2025 analysis from Daostar, Areta & Emory on validator M&A illustrates this well: consolidation is increasingly about distribution, not desperation.
DAO M&A isn’t for the faint of heart. Unlike traditional buyouts with clean equity stakes and predictable board approvals, these deals often hinge on:
Still, they’re happening. Over 65 DAO-related M&A deals have occurred since 2020, and the pace is quickening as legal wrappers improve and operational know-how spreads.
Parallel to M&A, a subtler trend is reshaping founder and investor behavior: secondary token sales.
These deals allow early stakeholders to sell portions of their token allocations—often off-exchange, OTC, and under lock-up agreements—to strategic buyers. They’re rarely publicized, but increasingly critical.
In a market where exchange listings are delayed and unlocks are tightly staged, secondaries offer a structured path to liquidity—especially for teams that would rather sell quietly than raise publicly.
Areta’s prior research flagged this evolution early, highlighting the way secondaries now act as release valves for otherwise illiquid capital. In today’s climate, they’re also a diplomatic tool—keeping teams motivated, cap tables clean, and early investors aligned.
Most of these transactions don’t show up on your newsfeed, but the people facilitating them aren’t anonymous.
In recent quarters, Areta has emerged as a key player in structuring and advising across these less-visible transactions—connecting governance-rich buyers with undervalued assets, mapping secondary liquidity opportunities, and advising DAO treasuries on strategic acquisitions.
They don’t run flashy campaigns or token drops either. Their influence shows up in the outcome: the validator that didn’t shut down, the stablecoin project that scaled through acquisition, the DAO that found a graceful off-ramp.
It’s a far cry from the bull market vibe—but in this era, discretion is the new alpha.
Founders facing flat rounds, token fatigue, or investor ghosting shouldn’t see M&A as the end of the story. It might be the smartest chapter yet.
Whether through token swaps, asset mergers, or secondary exits, crypto is developing the financial plumbing that traditional markets rely on—just with fewer suits and more signatures on multisig wallets.
If Web3’s next growth wave is going to be sustainable, it won’t come from another round of speculation. It will come from alignment—of teams, treasuries, users, and incentives.
Right now, the sharpest teams aren’t pitching. They’re merging.
For projects weighing tough choices, now may be the right time to start a quiet conversation.
