Key Highlights
- Polygon Labs is acquiring Coinme and Sequence for over $250 million to build the Open Money Stack.
- Coinme offers regulated fiat on/off-ramps through 6,000+ kiosks, while Sequence provides smart wallets and cross-chain payment tools.
- The Open Money Stack aims to simplify stablecoin payments, wallets, and compliance for developers and users.
Polygon Labs, a prominent player in the blockchain industry, is moving into regulated payments in the U.S. by buying two crypto companies, Coinme and Sequence, for more than $250 million.
The deals, expected to close later this year, will help Polygon build its new Open Money Stack, a system to make payments with stablecoins and cross-chain transactions easier for users and developers. Commenting on the deal, Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron said, “It’s just a shift [focusing on payments] we started 12 months ago and have actually been building toward.”
Coinme and Sequence: Key pieces of Open Money Stack
Coinme, founded in 2014, is a regulated company with the U.S. Treasury’s FinCEN. It runs more than 6,000 kiosks through Coinstar, which allow people to exchange cash for crypto in stores like Walmart and small shops. Boiron called this service a “Trojan horse” for bringing new people into crypto.
“You can go to a grocery store, have the barcode scanned by a cashier, give them cash, and then you have the crypto,” he said.
Sequence, founded in 2017, develops smart wallets and tools to move crypto across blockchains without users worrying about bridging, swaps, or gas fees. Polygon said Sequence’s technology will be a key part of Open Money Stack, which includes creating wallets and making payment flows work smoothly together.
How Polygon plans to change crypto payments
Polygon plans to launch the Open Money Stack by the end of 2026. The platform is designed to let developers manage identity and fiat onboarding in one place.
According to Boiron, “We give one API, you plug it in, and now you have a blockchain that you can on-ramp and off-ramp to, with wallets, and you can receive funds from any other chain.” This means companies can add crypto payments and wallets without using many different services.
The acquisition reflects a change in Polygon’s strategy. In the past, the exchange built most technology in-house or spun out projects. Previously, Polygon expanded through mergers like Hermez Network and Mir Protocol in 2021, or spin-offs such as Avail and ZisK, all supporting blockchain infrastructure and zero-knowledge solutions. Now, it is buying companies to get technology and licenses faster and make money from services.
Coinme’s deal is expected to close in the second quarter, while Sequence’s acquisition is set to finalize this month. Together, they will be shown as one payment platform for users while keeping separate licenses for legal compliance.
Polygon also plans to earn money from Coinme’s service fees. The company expects the on-chain business could bring more revenue flowing to POL stakers.
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