Crypto Deals Continue Despite FTX Implosion


Majic Wheels Corp. announced that it will go public via a SPAC acquisition in a deal valued at $200 million. OceanTech Acquisitions I Corp. will acquire Majic Wheels in a reverse triangular merger by which it will be renamed Majic Corp. and the combined company will be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC.

According to the deal’s press release, the “Majic Wheels ecosystem includes assets such as Calfin Global Crypto Exchange (CGCX), the world’s leading hybrid exchange, and PCEX, an Indian exchange that is transforming the B2B crypto landscape in over 250 locations within India. CGCX provides customers with a high caliber, secure, and simple-to-navigate crypto trading experience by combining four blockchain services onto a single platform.”

The transaction represents the latest deal in the cryptocurrency space, even as the industry has been rocked by FTX’s implosion in early November. FTX had created its own digital currency in 2019, which skyrocketed in value as investors poured dollars into the product. However, these investors did not realize that their funds were then being used to make speculative investments — Sam Bankman-Fried, the now-former CEO of FTX, is accused of secretly moving $10 billion in FTX’s funds to make risky investments using a backdoor in the company’s bookkeeping system to avoid scrutiny.  

As cryptocurrencies’ values plummeted over the course of 2022, and a report questioned the soundness of FTX’s financials, investors sought to sell out of their positions in FTT. This created an old-fashioned bank run and FTX filed for bankruptcy within days.

FTX Token Price (FTT)

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/price/ftx-token/

Despite such tumult in cryptocurrency, the deals have pressed on. Announced the day after investors began to question FTX’s financials, Bakkt Holdings, Inc. agreed to acquire Apex Crypto, LLC from Apex Fintech Solutions, Inc. for $200 million. This was on the heels of October’s announcement that DLTx would go public via a SPAC.

Notably, these recent deals’ documents have emphasized how the companies have diversified their operations beyond cryptocurrency exhanges. As examples, Majic states that “operates through its subsidiary companies focused on disruptive industries such as Fintech, Insurtech, software development, and crypto exchange platform,” while DLTx touts its “strong track record in capitalizing on growth opportunities in the Web 3 space, including early investments in one of the largest industrial scale Bitcoin mining operations in North America, Filecoin cloud storage, and Decentralized Data Relay Services. 

According to Matterhorn’s M&A database, which harnesses both AI and attorneys to digest the granular deal points of publicly announced transactions, Majic was advised by law firms Norton Rose Fulbright. OceanTech Acquisitions I Corp. was advised by law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.