Crypto miner Prime Blockchain and 10X SPAC cancel $1.25 billion merger deal

Crypto mining and infrastructure company Prime Blockchain is no longer set to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange. 

Prime Blockchain and 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), have mutually agreed to terminate a $1.25 billion merger deal, according to an 8-K filing published on August 12. 

A SPAC is a company without operations that is formed purely with the goal of acquiring a company and taking it public. 

Prime Blockchain announced its plans to go public via a SPAC in April of this year. The goal was to have the merger complete by the second half of 2022. 

Several crypto companies like Bitdeer and Apifiny planned to leverage SPACs to go public. In July, Apifiny and the SPAC Abri also mutually terminated its deal, according to a release. 

Only 74 IPOs have taken place so far this year via SPACs, compared to the 613 took place last year, according to data from SPACInsider. 

A reason for the termination of the merger deal is not provided in the filing. 

However, the news comes at a time when US IPO activity slows to a five-year low in the first half of this year, according to data from FactSet.  

Crypto companies are also grappling with inflation, recessionary fears and a crypto bear market with bitcoin and ether down 48% respectively since the start of this year. 

BitGo acquisition falls flat

On Monday, crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital announced that it had terminated its acquisition of BitGo. Galaxy said the crypto custodian had failed to deliver audited financial statements for 2021 that would comply with the requirements of the acquisition agreement. 

BitGo responded, calling Galaxy’s decision “improper” and said it would pursue legal action and damages in excess of $100 million, according to a statement. 

Mergers and acquisitions have remained one of the few bright spots in crypto deal making as the industry grapples with several macro headwinds. The Block Research’s recent report shows that M&A transactions are on pace for a record year. 

Chart: The Block Research

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