Two leading cryptocurrency companies, Ripple and FTX, said they are searching for lucrative acquisitions as the entire crypto industry hopes to fuel its growth by buying other companies, CNBC writes.

Brett Harrison, president of cryptocurrency exchange FTX U.S., said he is looking for companies to help acquire more users and regulatory licenses for his exchange, as his company is in a “very good capital and cash position and is looking to secure potential M&A opportunities in the market.”

FTX acquired trading platform Blockfolio in 2020, which helped it attract more users. FTX is also interested in brokerage startups that it can acquire to further advance in stock trading.

Last year, FTX U.S. bought LedgerX, a futures exchange that had several licenses from U.S. regulators.

“We do it all over the world, Japan, Australia, Dubai, different places where we can either partner with local companies or sometimes make acquisitions to get the licenses we need,” Harrison said

And Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of cross-border payments company Ripple, said the company has a “very strong balance sheet,” predicting an increase in mergers and acquisitions in the crypto industry.

“I think there will be a surge of mergers and acquisitions in the blockchain and crypto space. We haven’t seen that yet. But I think it’s possible in the future. Right now we are in a growth phase where we are more likely to be a buyer than a seller,” he added.

This is a sign that some crypto firms now consider themselves large enough and well-capitalized enough to spend money on acquisitions.

It’s also worth noting that cryptocurrency M&A activity surged in 2021, with the total value of such transactions totaling more than $55 billion, up from $1.1 billion in 2020. This coincided with a surge in cryptocurrencies that lifted bitcoin to an all-time high last November. But then cryptocurrencies collapsed. Bitcoin is about 55% below its all-time high of $68,990.90, according to CoinDesk.

Falling cryptocurrency prices and perhaps the valuation of crypto companies could make some such acquisitions attractive to larger players.