Fireblocks Rejects $2.5 Billion Visa Takeover Rumor

Bitcoin Magazine reported that Fireblocks has denied the $2.5 billion Visa acquisition rumors.

Visa and Fireblocks were not in late-stage acquisition talks, the firm said, denying a report that valued a potential deal at roughly $2.5 billion.

"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," the company told The Block on Thursday.

Axios reported, citing multiple sources, that the two parties were nearing an agreement just hours before the denial. Such a deal would have marked Visa's first acquisition in the stablecoin sector and would be among the largest in crypto history, behind Coinbase's $2.9 billion purchase of Deribit in 2025 and Naver Financial's pending $10.3 billion deal for Upbit parent Dunamu.

At $2.5 billion, the reported price would represent a significant discount from the $8 billion valuation Fireblocks held in January 2022, when it raised $550 million in a Series E round during the venture cycle peak. Founded in 2018 by Michael Shaulov, Pavel Berengoltz and Idan Ofrat, three Israeli cybersecurity veterans, the company provides infrastructure for banks, exchanges and fintechs to hold and move digital assets.

Among Fireblocks' clients are BNY Mellon, Worldpay, Revolut and Galaxy. The firm claims to have secured trillions of dollars in transfers across more than 150 blockchains.

Fireblocks powers FIS's institutional bitcoin trading, supports BNP Paribas's digital asset custody, and is a founding member of the Botanix federation, a bitcoin sidechain project.

Crypto land grab

Regardless of the talks' status, the report arrived amid a broader trend: established payment firms spent 2026 buying or courting companies that handle stablecoin and crypto infrastructure rather than building it themselves.

In March, Mastercard agreed to buy BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, after takeover talks with Zerohash fell through. The deal closed in August, and Mastercard also secured a New York BitLicense along the way.

Zerohash, meanwhile, is seeking a US national trust bank charter.

In August, Visa partnered with Zerohash to add stablecoin funding and payouts to Visa Direct. In September, Visa said its stablecoin settlement volume had surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate, more than 15 times the prior year's level.

Both card networks joined a coalition of over 140 companies behind Open USD, a dollar stablecoin aimed at spreading the economics of a $300 billion market beyond Tether and Circle.

Fireblocks launched its own stablecoin payments network in September 2025 with over 40 participants, including Circle, Bridge, Zerohash and Yellow Card. This year, it rolled out acceptance tools for neobanks and a settlement suite designed for AI agents.