Visa is in late-stage talks to buy crypto custody firm Fireblocks for about $2.5 billion, in what would be one of the biggest deals in crypto history. Traders are watching closely because the world's largest payments network would own a key piece of the plumbing that banks and funds use to hold and move digital assets.
Key points:
• Visa is in late-stage talks to acquire Fireblocks for around $2.5 billion, according to an Axios report cited by The Block — no deal has been announced yet.
• Fireblocks was last valued at $8 billion in January 2022, so the reported price is far below its peak private valuation.
• The talks follow Mastercard's completed purchase of stablecoin firm BVNK, as both payments giants race to own crypto infrastructure.
The report came from Axios on Thursday, citing multiple sources, and was reported by The Block. Neither Visa nor Fireblocks commented when asked. That means the deal is not final — talks at this stage can still change in price or fall apart — but a late-stage process between two names this large is a strong signal of where big payments money is moving.
Fireblocks, founded in 2018, provides custody and infrastructure for digital assets — in simple words, the secure systems institutions use to store crypto and move it safely. It raised $550 million in a Series E round in January 2022 at an $8 billion valuation. In September 2025 it launched a stablecoin payments network with more than 40 participants, including Circle, Bridge, Zerohash and Yellow Card.
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At about $2.5 billion, the deal would rank among the largest acquisitions in crypto history. It would sit just below Coinbase's $2.9 billion purchase of derivatives exchange Deribit in 2025, and well below Naver Financial's pending all-stock deal of around $10.3 billion for Upbit parent Dunamu. For traders, the size matters: when a buyer this big pays billions for custody, it is betting that institutional crypto activity will keep growing.
Visa has already been expanding fast in stablecoins. In August it partnered with Zerohash to support stablecoin funding and payouts through Visa Direct, and it later reported that its stablecoin settlement volume had passed a $20 billion annualized run rate — more than 15 times the level a year earlier. Its rival Mastercard completed its acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK in August, a deal agreed in March for up to $1.8 billion including $300 million in contingent payments.
What happens next?
Traders will watch for an official announcement from Visa or Fireblocks confirming the price and terms — until then, this remains a reported negotiation, not a closed deal. If it completes, bank and fund access to Fireblocks' custody and stablecoin network could sit inside Visa's global payments system, which would be a major step for crypto moving into everyday finance.
Read also: Visa and Mesh Open Crypto Spending at 175 Million Shops — No Card Needed?
— Crypto News Daily News Desk
This post is news only, not financial advice. Always do your own research before buying or selling crypto.
Sources: The Block, Axios
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