Collectables and sports merchandise online retailer Fanatics has reportedly agreed to acquire trading card rival Topps for $500 million in a deal that consolidates the sports collectables industry and opens the door to new NFT-based ventures. Fanatics last year reached a $18 billion valuation - with a $325 million funding round backed by Jay-Z and Roc Nation – and snatched a decades-long licensing deal with Major League Baseball away from Topps. Fanatics quickly moved to launch NFT collectables for the MLB, with a digital art series.
Vancouver-based DeFi company WonderFi Technologies Inc. today announced that it will acquire the parent company of Bitbuy Technologies Inc. a cryptocurrency platform for $206 million dollars. WonderFi is backed by Shark Tank’s Kevin O'Leary. WonderFi’s CEO added "the integration of WonderFi and Bitbuy is a huge step forward in our mission of democratizing finance through easy and secure access to DeFi and crypto."