BitGo is buying NYDIG's institutional trading business as crypto rebounds

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The deal adds derivatives, structured products, and financing capabilities to BitGo's custody and settlement platform

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BitGo Holdings announced the acquisition of NYDIG's institutional trading business on Thursday, paying up to $57.5 million in cash and stock to expand its derivatives and financing capabilities.

Under the terms of the deal, BitGo will pay $7 million in cash at closing, along with stock valued at approximately $35.5 million, the company said. An additional $15 million in cash is contingent on the achievement of two revenue milestones, with the second milestone also triggering additional stock consideration. BitGo also expects to grant transferred employees restricted stock units and cash retention awards each with a target value of $5 million, both tied to the second revenue milestone.

About 30 NYDIG employees joined BitGo as part of the transaction, along with NYDIG's institutional client relationships, the company said. According to CNBC, those relationships number approximately 250.

NYDIG's institutional trading unit has served a client base spanning asset managers, hedge funds, corporations, and family offices, offering derivatives, structured products, financing, and broader capital markets capabilities, the company said. BitGo said the acquisition is intended to complement its existing custody, settlement, and wallet infrastructure and is expected to increase the stickiness of client assets on its platform.

"Institutions increasingly want to work with a trusted partner that can support the full lifecycle of digital assets — from custody and trading to financing and settlement," BitGo CEO and co-founder Mike Belshe said in a statement. "We believe this transaction will meaningfully scale our trading and infrastructure capabilities and adds an exceptional team with experience serving institutional clients."

Pete Janney, head of financial infrastructure at BitGo, said in a statement that the transaction would allow NYDIG's former team to continue delivering trading solutions "now backed by an even deeper set of resources."

For NYDIG, the sale allows the firm to concentrate on its power generation, bitcoin mining, and high-performance computing data center business, which has a development pipeline exceeding 3 gigawatts, with more than 1 gigawatt of capacity deliverable in 2027 and 2028, the company said.

"That business is complementary to BitGo's digital asset infrastructure, and we look forward to a seamless transition for our clients and our colleagues," NYDIG CEO Tejas Shah said in a statement.

BitGo, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BTGO, went public earlier this year and has a market value of less than $1 billion. The company was founded in 2013 and operates BitGo Bank & Trust, which it describes as the first federally chartered digital asset trust bank owned by a publicly traded company.

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