Polygon Labs, the development arm of the Polygon (POL) ecosystem, announced the acquisition of two crypto startups to strengthen its position in the stablecoin and payment infrastructure space. The company paid over $250 million for Coinme and Sequence.
The amount paid for each acquisition, and whether the transactions were conducted using cash, shares, or a combination of both, was not disclosed.
Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron and Polygon Foundation founder Sandeep Nailwal stated that this move is a critical part of the company’s stablecoin and payments strategy. The statement added that this step aims to strengthen Polygon’s position in the global payments infrastructure market.
Among the acquired companies, Seattle-based Coinme focuses on cash and cryptocurrency exchange and operates a vast network of crypto ATMs across the US. Coinme is also notable for holding money transfer licenses in multiple states. New York-based Sequence offers various blockchain infrastructure products, primarily crypto wallets.
Sandeep Nailwal explicitly stated that these acquisitions put Polygon Labs in direct competition with Stripe. Over the past year, Stripe has been known to acquire stablecoin startups and crypto wallet companies, launch its own blockchain focused on payment scenarios, and aim to control the entire stablecoin technology stack, from payment infrastructure to user asset storage.
*This is not investment advice.
