Echo Base

Investing in complexity. Distressed acquisitions & special situation investments in the digital asset ecosystem.

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

Crypto's Deal Mix Has Reset: Funding Down, Acquisitions Up

Across 2020-2024, crypto recorded 5,323 funding rounds and 358 acquisitions, roughly one acquisition for every 15 funding rounds. In 2026, that ratio has shifted to 104 acquisitions against 351 funding rounds, roughly one for every four.

The same shift is visible across full-year data: from 2022 to 2025, acquisitions increased 115%, from 82 to 176, while funding rounds fell 54%, from 1,584 to 732.

TAKEAWAY
The industry is consolidating rather than expanding, fewer new companies, more of the existing ones changing hands. It is maturing as the delineation between lasting companies and sellers gets drawn.

NOTE
- RootData M&A and Funding Trend quarterly charts. Data period Jan 2020 to 22 Sep 2026
- It measures the mix of recorded deals, not the rate at which companies are acquired.

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

We can answer all three, and we will, in the right forum. Economic terms get negotiated between counsel and disclosed to claimholders, not settled in 280 characters.

No proposal will be consummated without full transparency and the support of claimholders. They approve any structure and they see every term.

Our counsel is standing by to engage on the detail so this can be delivered against the September 9 date you committed to.

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

A$10 million offer to fund an orderly wind-down of @BitMartExchange has now gone four weeks unanswered. BitMart has not answered it, or the formal demand that followed two days later. Echo Base has formed an ad hoc committee of BitMart claimholders, represented by Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor and Ashbury Legal. The committee is examining the rights qualifying creditors may have, including the ability to commence or join an involuntary insolvency proceeding where legal and statutory requirements are met. The objective is one coordinated path for claimholders, rather than a queue of individual claims going nowhere.

“BitMart still has time to run an orderly wind-down. What it does not have is anyone willing to put capital behind one. Out of court there is no stay, so a single claimant can stall the process for everyone, and any holder the company cannot reach retains its claim indefinitely. That is not a wind-down, it is an open liability with a queue attached. We have offered capital at risk to fund a court-supervised process through confirmation, on a defined timetable, structured to return as much as possible to claimholders from whatever assets exist.

Administering a book this size takes years, and BitMart has publicly committed to a process it cannot staff past January. We have the capital, infrastructure and expertise to run a compliant and orderly run-off. Every week this goes unanswered, the version that remains available narrows. Our proposal has been outstanding since August 6,” said Roshan Dharia, CEO, Echo Base.

Claimholders can register their interest here: [email protected]

Read: https://t.co/XH0DAi7BCd

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

Fair questions, and they deserve a constructive conversation between our respective counsel rather than a Twitter thread. Continued delay only narrows the options available to your customers. Please ask W&C to engage with us today. September 9 is the date you committed to publicly, and there is still time to deliver a joint proposal that gives claimholders a defined path.

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

We contacted W&C on Friday and would welcome engagement on our proposal, which has been outstanding since August 6. Our ad hoc committee represents a significant portion of claims against the platform and continues to grow daily.

$10m of our own capital at risk to fund a court-supervised process, so customers are not paying for it out of their recoveries. Withdrawals stay open long term instead of closing in January. Full transparency, with independent third-party auditing of assets and liabilities.

Nothing asked of you personally. We are ready to proceed immediately so distributions can start.

Claimholders: [email protected]
@sheldonbitmart @BitMartExchange

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

For confidential professional inquiries or customer claims please contact [email protected]

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

Echo Base has offered BitMart a funded restructuring package, including debtor-in-possession financing and equity at emergence, underwritten by Echo Base as a claimholder. BitMart has not responded. The offer comes as BitMart’s wind-down raises a more fundamental question: what happens when a large custodial platform can no longer resolve customer claims consensually?

Speaking to @CoinDesk , Echo Base CEO Roshan Dharia explained why the scale and structure of BitMart’s customer base make an out-of-court resolution increasingly difficult: “A custodial book this size can’t be resolved consensually, because you can’t reliably reach such a dispersed retail customer base, and every user you miss keeps a claim in full.”

His conclusion is clear: “There is no version of this that ends well without going to court. The only question for the board is whether BitMart walks in with a plan and a funded sponsor, or is taken there by its own claimants.”

For exchanges facing a disorderly wind-down, delay does not make the liability disappear. The question is whether management takes control of the restructuring process while options and funding remain available or allows creditors to determine what happens next.

Read the full CoinDesk article: https://t.co/V1coJpTu49

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

We're pleased to announce the appointment of Marcus Leanos as Partner, Investments at Echo Base.

His appointment comes as we position for what we believe will be a protracted period of restructuring activity, distressed asset sales, liability management transactions and industry consolidation across the digital asset ecosystem.

Read more: https://t.co/KnSh9hUfZT

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

The collapse of one of North America’s largest Bitcoin ATM operators reflects a broader shift across the industry, as compliance obligations, fraud remediation requirements & consumer protection standards continue to intensify.

Echo Base CEO and restructuring adviser Roshan Dharia commented to @Cointtellegraph:
“Bitcoin Depot’s bankruptcy is likely a preview of what the broader crypto ATM industry will face in the US over the next several years.”
“The result is that many crypto ATM operators may no longer be able to generate sufficient margin to support a nationwide network at scale.”

Read more via Cointelegraph: https://t.co/f0RbFuArCA

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

Jennifer Hanny, Partner (Finance) at Echo Base, shares her view on the week ahead in crypto & macro markets.

Low volatility ≠ low risk.

Positioning is asymmetric, leaving room for sharp repricing if a catalyst hits.

Read more via @CoinDesk https://t.co/FwnE37jYEN

[Echo Base @echobaseglobal]

Crypto projects aren’t failing all at once this cycle; they’re running out of options. Tight treasuries. Weak activity.

As Roshan Dharia, CEO of Echo Base, said via @Cointelegraph: “Outcomes are more often wind downs than recoveries.”

Read more: https://t.co/PBTeR5vykr

[Boosty Labs @BoostyLabs]

We're joining forces with @echobaseglobal in a strategic partnership 🚀

Our 150+ #blockchain engineering team will support their portfolio (@paxful, @tabtraderpro, @omni) while our Founder @vihnatiuk joins their Advisory Board.

This is the kind of collaboration that lets us scale our #Web3 impact 🤝

Read more 👉 https://t.co/r8J2m4ISqQ

[Press Releases @press_newswire]

Trader Acquisition Corp., an Affiliate of Echo Base Holdings, Acquires Crypto Trading Platform Tabtrader

Panama City, Panama, February 20th, 2025, Chainwire

The acquisition expands Echo Base’s growing portfolio of crypto products.

Trader Acquisition … https://t.co/840enOPp8J