Fireblocks Denies Report of $2.5 Billion Visa Acquisition Talks
Key Takeaways
- •Fireblocks denied an Axios report that Visa was in late-stage negotiations to buy the company for about $2.5 billion, saying no such talks were underway.
- •Visa declined to address the report, maintaining a policy of not commenting on rumors or speculation.
- •The reported acquisition price would be substantially lower than Fireblocks' last publicly disclosed valuation of over $8 billion, announced in January 2 after a $550 million Series E round.
- •If completed, a $2.5 billion deal would rank among the largest crypto acquisitions ever, though smaller than Coinbase's $2.9 billion purchase of Deribit in 2025.
- •The report comes as Visa expands its stablecoin business, with settlement volume surpassing a $20 billion annualized run rate and a recent partnership with Zerohash.
Fireblocks has denied a report that Visa is in late-stage discussions to acquire the crypto custody and infrastructure company for approximately $2.5 billion.
Axios reported on Thursday, citing multiple sources, that the payments giant was in advanced talks to buy Fireblocks. The company disputed the report in statements provided to Cointelegraph and The Block.
“We are aware of the rumors about a possible acquisition of Fireblocks by Visa,” a Fireblocks spokesperson said. “This is news to us, and not true at present time.”
A Visa spokesperson declined to address the specific report saying the company does not comment on “rumors or speculation.”
🚨BREAKING: Fireblocks DENIES reports that Visa is in late-stage talks to acquire the crypto custody firm for $2.5 BILLION. Fireblocks says the claims are "not true at present time," while Visa declined to comment, per The Block. pic.twitter.com/tEQilX5H0H — Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) October 22, 2026
The reported price would be substantially below Fireblocks’ last publicly disclosed valuation of more than $8 billion. Fireblocks announced that valuation in January 2022 after raising $550 million in a Series E funding round. Data provider Traxcn listed the $8 billion valuation as recently as Dec. 11, 2025. No newer public valuation has been disclosed.
Founded in 2018, Fireblocks provides custody and infrastructure services to institutions that hold digital assets. In September 2025, the company launched a stablecoin payments network with more than 40 participants, including Circle, Bridge, Zerohash and Yellow Card.
A $2.5 billion acquisition would rank among the largest deals in crypto industry history, although it would be smaller than Coinbase’s $2.9 billion purchase of derivatives exchange Deribit in 2025. Naver Financial also has a pending all-stock agreement to acquire Upbit parent company Dunamu for approximately $10.3 billion. Taken together, the deals reflect a period of large-scale M&A spanning the crypto and payments sectors.
The report comes as Visa expands its stablecoin operations. In August, Visa partnered with Zerohash to support stablecoin funding and payouts through Visa Direct. Visa later said its stablecoin settlement volume had exceeded a $20 billion annualized run rate, more than 15 times the level recorded a year earlier. Zerohash is also among the participants in Fireblocks’ stablecoin payments network, an overlap that shows how the same stablecoin infrastructure providers are surfacing across both crypto platforms and traditional payment networks.
Mastercard, Visa’s rival, completed its acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK in August. Mastercard agreed in March to purchase BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in contingent payments.
As of Thursday, Fireblocks said no acquisition talks with Visa were underway, while Visa had not commented further on the report.
Source: CoinCentral
Related report: Axios
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