Bitcoin’s prolonged decline is forcing cryptocurrency companies to cut staff, automate more work, and abandon the expansion plans that defined the last bull market. At the same time, it is also creating one of the industry’s busiest periods for takeovers.

Crypto mergers and acquisitions reached $7.23 billion during the second quarter of 2026, up from $2.14 billion in the first three months of the year.

The two quarters brought total capital deployed through deals to $9.37 billion. CryptoRank’s data framed the broader first-half surge as a 26x increase versus the same period last year, underscoring how sharply deal activity has accelerated even as spot-market conditions weakened.

That acceleration…