Uphold, the multi-asset crypto trading platform, is reportedly seeking a potential sale to a payments firm with $1.5 billion target.
Besides this, the New York-headquartered firm is also considering the Initial Public Offering (IPO) amid the bullish momentum.
The firm has reportedly hired FT Partners – according to the Block – to consider both the strategic options. FT partners provides M&A or equity and debt related advisory to companies ranging from early-stage startups to global incumbents.
This move by Uphold comes amid a broader wave of consolidation and public listings across the crypto industry. Past week, Circle’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange with whooping 347% gain underscored growing institutional appetite for regulated digital-asset firms. Meanwhile, leading crypto exchange Gemini has also signaled ambitions to tap public markets.
Uphold’s Recent Striking Developments in Web3
It is interesting to note that this update from Uphold and CEO Simon McLoughlin comes on the heels of recently wrapped up XRP Las Vegas. At the event, the firm highlighted that it has been making significant developments around the expansion of its services and geographies it reaches.
The most important among these have been its partnership with IG Index, which made it the first public company to offer crypto trading in UK.
As the institutional-grade platform, Uphold defines its goal as “helping banks, brokers, and payment firms incorporate digital asset and blockchain technologies.” Thus, explains why the crypto asset firm is looking for a payments fitm as the potential buyer of itself. It has recently also launched Uphold Card and Direct Deposits both giving out XRP yields.
Important Stats for the Buyer
With its “Anything-to-Anything Trading” model, Uphold offers trading, custodial wallets & accounts with staking services for multiple assets including Crypto, fiat, stocks and precious metals. In recent quarters, its transaction volumes have hovered in the $10–15 billion range.
For Q4 2024, its volume stood at approximately $12 billion in aggregate traded value. During the same time period, it added 2 million net new accounts, bringing the total to 28 million. This ended up generating roughly $100 million in gross revenue with 70% coming from trading fees and rest 30% earned from interest income.
While for the most recent Q1 2025, its volume rose to $15 billion, witnessing a 25% increase QoQ. The revenue grew to $125 million – up 25% QoQ. This has been driven by higher volumes and elevated interest rates on reserves backing USDC and other stablecoins.
Uphold also holds compliance approvals from bodies such as FinCEN in the U.S. and the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority. Thus, if a deal materializes, it can make the significant entry of the “buyer” in crypto and money markets. This could also become one of the largest M&A transactions in the digital-asset sector so far this year.
Also Read: Bitcoin ATM Operator CoinFlip at Sale
Sneha Agrawal 
Share