Polygon Acquires Coinme and Sequence for $250M to Bolster Stablecoin Strategy

Original Author: Sanqing, Foresight News

On January 13, Polygon Labs announced the completion of its acquisition of cryptocurrency payment infrastructure Coinme and blockchain development platform Sequence, with the total acquisition amount exceeding $250 million. However, Polygon Labs did not disclose the specific purchase price for each company, nor did it specify whether the transactions were conducted in cash, equity, or a combination of both.

Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron and Polygon Foundation founder Sandeep Nailwal stated that the acquisition aims to support the blockchain network's stablecoin strategy. Coinme holds a range of remittance licenses in the United States, while Sequence is focused on building blockchain infrastructure, including cryptocurrency wallets.

According to a January 9 report by Coindesk, sources revealed that Polygon is in discussions to acquire Bitcoin ATM operator Coinme. Polygon plans to spend between $100 million and $125 million to complete the acquisition.

Coinme was established in 2014 and has been operating in the compliant cryptocurrency business in the United States for a long time. It launched the first licensed Bitcoin ATM in the U.S. and has partnered with traditional brands such as Coinstar and MoneyGram to establish a cash network with over 50,000 retail locations across 48 states in the U.S.

Coinme is regulated by the National Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) and state financial regulatory authorities in the U.S. It provides online wallet and ATM transaction services, supporting the exchange and withdrawal of major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, enabling users to trade digital assets more conveniently.

As early as 2024, Coinme's transaction volume exceeded $1 billion, and it achieved profitability for the first time, indicating that its compliant payment model has sustained transaction demand.

For Polygon, acquiring Coinme means directly obtaining a series of remittance licenses across the United States, enabling Polygon to seamlessly connect cash, debit cards, and on-chain assets within a compliant framework. This move further advances Polygon's strategy to integrate stablecoin payments and the flow of off-chain capital.

Unlike Coinme, which focuses on "money," Sequence focuses on "users." Sequence is dedicated to eliminating the complexity of blockchain through a modular stack, including smart wallets, account abstraction, and the Trails cross-chain orchestration engine.

Sequence's core technologies include the Smart Wallet, which brings wallet behavior closer to the Web2 account experience through account abstraction. It supports features such as social recovery, gas fee abstraction, and automated transactions.

The key component enabling its cross-chain execution is Trails, which allows users to automatically find and execute the optimal path to complete cross-chain or cross-protocol transactions after expressing their intent, without being aware of cross-chain processes, gas fees, or token compatibility.

By combining chain abstraction and account abstraction, Sequence not only allows developers to "build once, run on multiple chains," but also enables end users to transact, pay, and interact across multiple chains with a single identity, just like using internet services. This lowers the barrier for new users to enter the blockchain world.

Polygon Labs stated that the core objective of this acquisition is its stablecoin strategy aligned with the Open Money Stack, aiming to reduce system fragmentation through a unified API.

Open Money Stack | Image source: Polygon tweet

Deposit / Withdrawal Layer (On/Off & Cash Ramps): Leveraging Coinme's compliant network and U.S. regulatory licenses, enable instant cash and fiat deposits and withdrawals. Whether physical cash or electronic fiat, it can be converted into stablecoins or other on-chain assets.

Wallet and Interaction Layer (Wallet Infrastructure): Leveraging Sequence's enterprise-grade smart wallet and account abstraction technology, combined with one-click cross-chain transactions and cross-chain interaction capabilities, allows end users to perform on-chain receiving, sending, and payment operations without needing to worry about underlying chains, gas fees, or intermediate assets.

Cross-Chain Interoperability Layer (Crosschain Interop): Combining Sequence's Trails cross-chain orchestration engine with Polygon's interoperability protocol, it makes value transfers between different chains fully transparent to users and supports cross-chain transactions for any chain and any token.

Settlement Layer (Blockchain Rails): Leveraging the Polygon network and its scaling technologies, it provides a high-speed, low-cost, and secure on-chain settlement infrastructure, enabling stablecoin payments and value transfers to achieve commercial-scale efficiency.

In addition, the Open Money Stack plans to integrate stablecoin orchestration with compliance, identity, yield generation, and other modules to provide businesses with payment and treasury management solutions.

Polygon's $250 million acquisition reflects that the competition in the L2 sector is shifting from fundamental technical metrics to full-stack business integration.

This strategy aligns closely with Coinbase's approach in supporting Base. In terms of compliance, acquiring Coinme addresses the weakness in fiat on-ramps and mirrors Coinbase's core advantage as a centralized exchange (CEX). Regarding user experience, integrating Sequence lowers the barrier to blockchain entry, aligning with the user-friendliness of Coinbase Wallet (Base).

Against the backdrop of converging Layer 2 technologies, ecosystems with compliant channels and low entry barriers will more easily attract new capital. Polygon is attempting to build a comprehensive end-to-end moat for itself through this series of acquisitions, as it competes with rivals like Base that have native centralized advantages.