Fireblocks Denies Axios Report of $2.5 Billion Visa Acquisition Talks
Axios reported Visa was in late-stage talks to buy crypto custody firm Fireblocks for about $2.5 billion. Fireblocks says the deal is 'not true at present time,' a narrow denial as talk of a sale, with Coinbase also named, has circulated for weeks.
$2.5 billion. That is what Visa was reportedly lining up to pay for Fireblocks. The crypto custody firm says the deal is "not true at present time."
Axios, citing multiple unidentified sources, reported Thursday, October 22, that Visa was in late-stage talks to acquire Fireblocks. The denial came within hours.
"We are aware of the rumors about a possible acquisition of Fireblocks by Visa. This is news to us, and not true at present time."
Fireblocks spokesperson
Visa did not respond to requests for comment.
The wording matters. "At present time" is a narrow denial, not a flat rule-out of a sale. Talk of a potential sale has circulated for three or four weeks, with anonymous sources naming Coinbase as another possible buyer. Coinbase has not replied to requests for comment either.
The price tag
At $2.5 billion, a deal would mark a steep markdown from the $8 billion valuation Fireblocks carried in January 2022, when it raised $550 million in a Series E round.
Fireblocks was founded in 2018 by Michael Shaulov, Pavel Berengoltz and Idan Ofrat. Its customers include BNY Mellon, Worldpay, Revolut and Galaxy, and it says it has secured trillions of dollars in transfers across more than 150 blockchains. It launched a stablecoin payments network in September 2025, and its infrastructure backs gasless stablecoin transfers on Sui.
Why the rumor was plausible
It would have been Visa's first acquisition in the stablecoin sector. Visa partnered with Zerohash in August for stablecoin funding and payouts via Visa Direct. In September, it said its stablecoin settlement volume had passed a $20 billion annualized run rate.
Mastercard moved first. It agreed in March to buy BVNK for up to $1.8 billion after talks with Zerohash fell through, and closed the deal in August.
Whatever the status of any Fireblocks talks, payment incumbents spent 2026 buying or courting stablecoin and crypto infrastructure firms. Bigger crypto deals exist: Coinbase paid $2.9 billion for Deribit in 2025, and Naver Financial has a pending $10.3 billion deal for Upbit parent Dunamu.
For now, Fireblocks' denial is the only on-record position. Visa has not spoken.
