Bitcoin Update: Cryptocurrency Remains Rare In M&A Transactions Despite Potential

Bitcoin remains a fringe currency in the context of M&A transactions. Despite some notable advantages over fiat currency, the risks associated with funding a large transaction using the cryptocurrency have limited its use to deals between players in the Bitcoin space. This article provides an update to our previous article on Bitcoin's viability as a currency for funding M&A transactions.

To date, there have been three notable M&A transactions funded with Bitcoin. Only one of these transactions was completed within the last year, with the other two closing in 2013. The initial excitement over Bitcoin's use in M&A deals was fueled by the acquisition of SatoshiDice, a Bitcoin gambling service, by an unnamed buyer in July 2013, followed by BlockChain.info's acquisition of ZeroBlock, an application that aggregates Bitcoin exchange prices, in December 2013. The use of the cryptocurrency to fund these multi-million dollar deals led to predictions by some commentators that