Outdated Rules Are Holding Crypto Back

Hey, everyone.

Welcome back to another episode of Inflection Point.

I'm joined, as always, by Matt Hougan, David Lawant, and Michael Marcantonio.

Um, this, this episode I'm gonna kick it off with something, um, different.

So I tweeted out recently that M&A activity in crypto had reached record highs.

So this quarter isn't even done, and in the first two quarters of 2026, we've already eclipsed all of the M&A activity from the entire 2025, which in itself was a record year as well.

And the reason why I'm bringing this up too is 'cause I wanted to announce-- well, bring to the attention that Blockworks and Messari are actually merging.

So Blockworks has acquired Messari, and I mean, this is big news for me.

We're, we're combining two leading crypto media research and data infrastructure platforms to serve both sides of the market now.

And so we're gonna be helping asset issuers build trust and helping investors, platforms, AI-powered tools better understand and evaluate digital assets.

And I think this leans into our mission towards bringing a more, more trust and transparency to the on-chain market.

So yeah, pretty excited to announce that here.

Congrats.

It's a, a fantastic deal, uh, two powerhouses coming together to build the leading crypto data and media place.

Um, I'm really excited for it.

Lot, lots, lots of good to come.

Love to see it.

Fantastic acquisition.

I can see the great fit.

Uh, Messari has great products.

Um, and yeah, amazing to see what they're gonna do in the bigger, uh, Blockworks umbrella.

Yeah.

No, I love it.

And then so that's going on.

I mean, it makes sense in, in, in this market with the M&A activity, lower prices, maybe a little bit more attractive valuations.