Polygon Strengthens Stablecoin Payments Strategy With $250M Acquisition Spree

Polygon Labs has moved decisively into financial infrastructure with the announcement of two landmark acquisitions totaling more than $250 million. The blockchain infrastructure builder is securing crypto payments firm Coinme and wallet provider Sequence to power its emerging role in stablecoin-based payments and onchain money movement. The dual acquisition underscores how Polygon is repositioning itself from a general-purpose blockchain toward revenue-generating financial services—a strategic shift that began roughly 12 months ago.

“It’s just a shift we started about a year ago and have actually been building toward,” said Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, in remarks to industry media. The two deals will anchor Polygon’s forthcoming Open Money Stack, a comprehensive framework designed to enable seamless stablecoin payments between traditional banking channels and blockchain settlement layers.

Two Cornerstone Deals Shape Payment Infrastructure

Coinme, one of the earliest U.S. bitcoin ATM providers, brings regulated fiat entry and exit pathways to the Polygon ecosystem. Industry sources indicate the company will be acquired for between $100 million and $125 million. As an established player in compliant crypto-to-fiat conversions, Coinme addresses a critical bottleneck in consumer and enterprise adoption of onchain payments.

Sequence represents the technical layer of this expansion. The infrastructure provider adds smart wallet capabilities and cross-chain technology that eliminates the friction users typically encounter when moving assets across multiple blockchains. By abstracting away technical complexity—including bridge mechanics, token swaps, and gas fee management—Sequence aims to make decentralized payments accessible to mainstream users.

Open Money Stack: The Platform Blueprint

The two acquisitions will serve as foundational pillars for the Open Money Stack, Polygon’s answer to building enterprise-grade payment infrastructure. Rather than limiting settlement to a single blockchain, the framework is architected to support multi-chain payment flows. “We fully expect payments to settle on multiple chains. Payments are so big there will always be many chains,” Boiron explained.

The Open Money Stack bundles blockchain settlement infrastructure, wallet technology, and traditional fiat access into a single developer-friendly interface. The platform is expected to launch sometime during 2026 and will present Coinme and Sequence as a unified payment solution to customers, despite each maintaining distinct operational and licensing structures.

Bridging Traditional Finance and Blockchain Payments

Polygon’s acquisitions reflect a broader industry transformation. Crypto projects are increasingly positioning themselves as neobank-like entities, offering payments, custody, and compliance services that mirror traditional digital banking but operate on blockchain infrastructure. This shift represents a fundamental move away from the earlier blockchain paradigm—general-purpose networks designed primarily for decentralized applications—toward specialized financial services built for revenue generation.

Stablecoins have emerged as the critical enabler of this transition, establishing themselves as a preferred settlement layer for borderless value transfers. By consolidating payment capabilities, regulatory compliance, and technical infrastructure under a unified stack, Polygon is betting that enterprise adoption hinges on reducing operational complexity for both developers and end users.

Polygon’s Vision for Multi-Chain Payment Settlement

The strategic rationale extends beyond Coinme and Sequence as standalone acquisitions. Rather, they represent stepping stones toward Polygon’s broader ambition: creating an ecosystem where stablecoin payments move seamlessly between legacy financial rails and onchain infrastructure without exposing users to the technical overhead traditionally associated with blockchain interactions.

This approach contrasts with the earlier model where blockchain infrastructure served primarily technical and speculative use cases. Polygon’s pivot signals confidence that the next phase of crypto adoption will be driven by practical, consumer-facing financial services—particularly cross-border payments, instant settlement, and regulatory compliance built into the protocol layer itself.

As the Open Money Stack matures throughout 2026, Polygon’s positioning will crystallize around this payments-first thesis. Whether this strategy succeeds may ultimately determine whether blockchain technology achieves mainstream adoption as financial infrastructure or remains confined to specialized use cases.