Fireblocks Denies $2.5 Billion Visa Buyout Report as Coinbase Rejects Separate Bidder Claims
Oct. 26, 2026 • Article • Banking & Payments
Fireblocks has rejected an Axios report that Visa was in advanced talks to acquire the digital-asset infrastructure company for about $2.5 billion. Fireblocks said the reported discussions were not taking place at present. Visa declined to comment on the claim, while Coinbase separately denied reports that it was considering a bid. None of the companies has confirmed an acquisition process.
The reported price would be about 69% below Fireblocks’ $8 billion valuation from its January 2022 Series E funding round. The company generated $124 million in revenue in 2024 but remained unprofitable, and it has initiated plans to cut 60 to 70 jobs amid the rumors. Visa already uses Fireblocks as an institutional client and works with it on an interoperability initiative. Those existing links provide context for the speculation, but do not establish that a transaction is under discussion.
Fireblocks has denied a report that Visa is in advanced talks to buy the digital-asset infrastructure company for approximately $2.5 billion. Axios reported the purported late-stage discussions, but Fireblocks said the claim was “news to us, and not true at present time.” Visa declined to comment, citing its policy against addressing market rumors or speculation.
The denials leave no confirmed acquisition process between the companies. They also put a spotlight on the infrastructure used by financial institutions to manage digital assets: Visa is already a Fireblocks client and works with the company on an interoperability initiative. Those established links are relevant context for the report, but they do not substantiate a buyout.
Conflicting accounts of potential buyers
Axios reported that Visa was in advanced, late-stage talks to acquire Fireblocks at a valuation of roughly $2.5 billion. Fireblocks directly disputed that account. Visa’s decision not to comment is neither confirmation nor a denial of the reported talks; the company said it does not address market rumors or speculation.
A separate account identified Coinbase as another potential bidder evaluating Fireblocks. Coinbase publicly denied that it was in discussions or exploring a deal to acquire the company. The two claims therefore have different responses: Fireblocks rejected the reported Visa talks, while Coinbase rejected reports about its own potential involvement. Neither reported buyer has confirmed a transaction.
The distinctions matter because an existing commercial relationship, an expression of interest and advanced acquisition negotiations are not interchangeable. The verified information establishes Visa’s relationship with Fireblocks, but not a proposed purchase. It also establishes that Coinbase has denied participating in takeover talks.
Valuation and Fireblocks’ operating position
At the price cited in the Axios report, Fireblocks would be valued about 69% below the $8 billion valuation established in January 2022, when it raised $550 million in a Series E funding round. That comparison describes the reported price against a prior financing benchmark; because the reported acquisition is disputed, $2.5 billion should not be treated as an agreed transaction value.
Fireblocks has raised approximately $1.04 billion across funding rounds. Its investors include Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, D1 Capital Partners, Spark Capital and BNY Mellon. The company generated $124 million in revenue in 2024 while remaining unprofitable. These figures offer financial context for the reported valuation, but do not explain whether any buyer has approached the company.
Amid the acquisition rumors, Fireblocks initiated plans to lay off 60 to 70 employees, or roughly 7% of its approximately 900-person global workforce. The timing places the planned cuts alongside the buyout speculation, but the available information does not establish that the two are connected. The reported workforce reduction is a separate development from the unconfirmed sale claims.
Existing ties and the infrastructure context
Visa is an institutional client of Fireblocks, and the companies collaborate on the Open Standard interoperability initiative. Interoperability, in this context, concerns how separate systems work together. Their collaboration shows a business connection in digital-asset infrastructure; it does not, by itself, indicate acquisition negotiations.
Former Visa Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman Vasant Prabhu joined Fireblocks’ advisory board in January 2025. His appointment is another documented link between the businesses, rather than evidence that Visa is pursuing an acquisition.
Visa has also developed its own infrastructure for institutions. It launched the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform in 2024 to facilitate the issuance of tokenized deposits and stablecoins, with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) as a launch participant. Tokenized deposits represent bank deposits on a digital system, while stablecoins are digital assets intended to maintain a stable value. The platform and Visa’s Fireblocks relationship show its involvement in this area, without resolving the status of the reported talks.
Other transactions provide context for the sector, though they do not validate the Visa report. Mastercard acquired stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK for up to $1.8 billion in a transaction that closed in August 2026. Fireblocks, meanwhile, previously expanded through acquisitions of wallet infrastructure provider Dynamic for approximately $90 million in 2025 and crypto accounting firm TRES Finance for $130 million in 2026.
For now, the central question remains the one raised by the initial report: whether any deal is actually being pursued. Fireblocks has said the reported Visa talks are not taking place at present, Coinbase has denied its reported involvement, and Visa has offered no comment on the buyout claim.
Revolut’s expansion into UK consumer lending is facing closer regulatory scrutiny. The Financial Times reported on October 27, 2026, that the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority had ordered a Section 166 skilled-person review of the bank’s product approval processes and internal risk governance. The review comes as Revolut offers unsecured personal loans and prepares to introduce a domestic credit card, with mortgages planned later. Revolut UK CEO Francesca Carlesi has said the bank intends to package and sell loans through securitisation rather than retain substantial long-term credit exposure. Revolut is targeting a loan-to-deposit ratio of roughly 6%, far below the roughly 100% typical of incumbent British high-street banks. The strategy could support lending growth while limiting loans held on its balance sheet, but it does not eliminate credit risk. S&P Global has cited the possibility of higher credit losses as Revolut expands lending across multiple jurisdictions.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Ant International signed a memorandum of understanding on October 26, 2026, to explore cross-border payments and digital treasury services. Their initial focus is Japan, Singapore and wider Southeast Asia. Engineering teams will examine whether Ant International’s Whale RTP platform can be integrated with SMBC’s institutional transaction banking and digital asset platforms. The agreement is exploratory, not the launch of a live settlement service. SMBC’s multi-market transaction banking rails are expected to support operations involving Ant International’s Alipay+, Antom and WorldFirst businesses. Ant International says its Whale platform processed more than US$600 billion in global treasury flows in 2025, with over 95% of transactions settling on the same day. Those figures describe the existing platform, not activity under the SMBC agreement. The MoU follows separate tokenized-deposit work involving Ant International and other banks, including a live OCBC solution and an HSBC pilot.
Tech Mahindra and Finastra announced on October 23, 2026, that Tech Mahindra had completed its acquisition of Finastra’s cash management products and related intellectual property. The deal moves Tech Mahindra beyond implementing banking software for clients and into owning transaction banking products. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquired portfolio includes Fusion Cash Management, Fusion Virtual Accounts and Fusion Liquidity Management, along with CashPlus, Global CashPlus and associated transaction banking APIs. Finastra product engineering and customer success personnel are being moved into Tech Mahindra’s banking, financial services and insurance division. Tech Mahindra plans to integrate the products into its existing Finastra Centre of Excellence to maintain service continuity for banking clients. The acquisition follows Tech Mahindra’s earlier purchase of an 85% stake in Canadian fintech Avant Techno Solutions and comes as Finastra divests businesses to concentrate on lending and payments software.
The European Payments Council implemented Version 1.1 of its Verification of Payee scheme rulebook on September 20, 2026, clarifying operations, API specifications and security after feedback from live deployment. Its directory service, operated with SWIFT, has also completed a live transition supporting provider reachability and routing. The changes come as non-eurozone EU payment providers work toward a July 9, 2027, compliance deadline. Required under the EU Instant Payments Regulation for both instant and standard SEPA credit transfers, Verification of Payee checks recipient details before authorization and must be offered free to users. The inter-provider exchange has a five-second operational maximum and can return a match, close match, no match or verification-not-possible result. A close match supplies the verified recipient name for the payer to review. A warning does not necessarily prevent a transfer: liability depends on whether a payer proceeds despite it or a provider fails to perform a required check.
Fireblocks has rejected an Axios report that Visa was in advanced talks to acquire the digital-asset infrastructure company for about $2.5 billion. Fireblocks said the reported discussions were not taking place at present. Visa declined to comment on the claim, while Coinbase separately denied reports that it was considering a bid. None of the companies has confirmed an acquisition process. The reported price would be about 69% below Fireblocks’ $8 billion valuation from its January 2022 Series E funding round. The company generated $124 million in revenue in 2024 but remained unprofitable, and it has initiated plans to cut 60 to 70 jobs amid the rumors. Visa already uses Fireblocks as an institutional client and works with it on an interoperability initiative. Those existing links provide context for the speculation, but do not establish that a transaction is under discussion.
TerraPay and J.P. Morgan have connected TerraPay Verify with Kinexys Liink so participating financial institutions can check recipient details before sending cross-border payments to mobile money wallets or bank accounts. Announced on October 22, 2026, the integration allows Liink participants to configure bi-directional API queries with TerraPay Verify. It extends a validation network that already covers account details in more than 70 countries to wallet-related checks. The partnership targets a source of payment failures: a 2026 LexisNexis Risk Solutions study cited during the rollout attributed 10% to 15% of cross-border payment failures to incorrect recipient or beneficiary details. Wallet identifiers can differ from conventional bank-account formats, making early checks useful but not a guarantee that a payment will complete. The companies have not publicly disclosed commercial terms, query pricing or country-by-country rollout plans, and the available information does not establish how much the integration will reduce failures in practice.