Fireblocks denies Axios report of $2.5B Visa acquisition talks

Crypto custody and infrastructure firm Fireblocks has denied a report that payments giant Visa is in late-stage talks to acquire it for roughly $2.5 billion.

The report came from Axios on Thursday, Oct. 22, which cited multiple unnamed sources describing late-stage negotiations, according to The Block, which relayed the report and sought comment from both companies. Fireblocks pushed back directly. "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 said in a statement to The Block. A Visa spokesperson declined to comment, saying, "We don't comment on rumors or speculation."

So the only on-the-record statements contradict the reported deal: one denial, one no-comment. The $2.5 billion figure and the "late-stage" characterization trace to Axios's anonymous sourcing, not to either named party.

For scale, Fireblocks was last publicly valued at $8 billion in January 2022, when it raised $550 million in a Series E round. Founded in 2018, it provides institutional crypto custody and digital-asset infrastructure, and in September 2025 launched a stablecoin payments network that it says has more than 40 participants, including Circle, Bridge, Zerohash, and Yellow Card.

The report lands against a real pattern of payments firms buying stablecoin plumbing. Visa partnered with Zerohash in August 2026 to support stablecoin funding and payouts through Visa Direct, and subsequently said its stablecoin settlement volume had passed a $20 billion annualized run rate — a figure from Visa itself, describing its own business — which it framed as more than 15 times the level a year earlier. Rival Mastercard completed its acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK in August, a deal struck in March for up to $1.8 billion including $300 million in contingent payments.

Key facts

• Axios reported Visa is in late-stage talks to buy Fireblocks for ~$2.5 billion; Fireblocks denied it and Visa declined to comment (The Block, citing Axios).
• Fireblocks's last public valuation: $8 billion, Series E, $550 million raised, January 2022 (The Block).
• Fireblocks launched a stablecoin payments network in September 2025 with 40+ participants (The Block).
• Visa reported stablecoin settlement volume above a $20 billion annualized run rate after its August Zerohash partnership — Visa's own figure (The Block).
• Mastercard closed its BVNK acquisition in August; agreed in March for up to $1.8 billion (The Block).

The real-world read

Treat this as an unconfirmed rumor, not a deal. The price tag and "late-stage" framing rest entirely on Axios's anonymous sources; the only named responses are a denial and a no-comment. Note the hedge in Fireblocks's wording — "not true at present time" denies a current agreement without ruling out past or future talks, which is not the same as "no conversations have happened." The $20 billion run-rate figure is Visa touting its own stablecoin growth and should be read as such. The strategic logic is real — Mastercard already bought BVNK — but logic is not a signed term sheet.

This is news reporting, not financial advice.