Polygon Labs Completes $250M+ Acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence, Building “Open Money Stack”

Original Author: Sanqing, Foresight News

On January 13, Polygon Labs announced the completion of its acquisitions of cryptocurrency payment infrastructure provider Coinme and blockchain development platform Sequence, with a total acquisition amount exceeding $250 million. However, Polygon Labs did not disclose the specific acquisition price for each company, nor clarify 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 acquisitions aim to strengthen the blockchain network’s stablecoin strategy. Coinme holds a series of remittance licenses in the United States, while Sequence is dedicated to building blockchain infrastructure, including crypto wallets.

Coinme: Filling the Offline Entry Point for Stablecoin Ecosystem

According to a CoinDesk report on January 9, sources revealed that Polygon is negotiating to acquire Bitcoin ATM operator Coinme, with plans to spend $100 to $125 million to complete the acquisition.

Coinme was founded in 2014 and has operated for an extended period in compliant crypto business in the United States. It launched America’s first licensed Bitcoin ATM and has partnered with traditional brands like Coinstar and MoneyGram to establish a cash network with over 50,000 retail points across 48 U.S. states.

Coinme is regulated by the National Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) and state financial regulators, providing online wallet and vending machine transaction services. It supports the exchange and withdrawal of mainstream cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, enabling users to transact with crypto assets more conveniently.

In 2024, Coinme’s transaction volume surpassed $1 billion and achieved profitability for the first time, demonstrating that its compliant payment model sustains continuous transaction demand.

For Polygon, acquiring Coinme means directly obtaining a series of U.S. remittance licenses, enabling Polygon to directly connect cash, debit cards, and on-chain assets within a compliant framework, further promoting the integration of stablecoin payments and off-chain fund inflows.

Sequence: Simplifying Web3 User Experience

Unlike Coinme, which handles “money,” Sequence handles “users.” Sequence is dedicated to eliminating blockchain complexity through a modular stack that includes smart wallets, account abstraction, and the Trails cross-chain orchestration engine.

Sequence’s core technology includes Smart Wallet, which uses account abstraction to make wallet behavior more aligned with Web2 account experience, supporting features like social recovery, gas fee abstraction, and automated transactions.

The key component for cross-chain execution is Trails, which allows users to automatically discover and execute optimal paths for cross-chain or cross-protocol transactions after expressing intent, without perceiving cross-chain mechanics, gas fees, or token compatibility issues.

By combining chain abstraction and account abstraction, Sequence not only enables developers to “build once, deploy everywhere,” but also allows end users to transact, pay, and interact across multiple chains through a single identity, much like using internet services, lowering the barrier to entry for new users into the on-chain world.

Building the “Open Money Stack” Strategy

Polygon Labs stated that the core objective of these acquisitions is its stablecoin strategy and Open Money Stack, aiming to reduce system fragmentation through unified APIs.

On/Off & Cash Ramps Layer: Utilizing Coinme’s compliant network and U.S. regulatory licenses to achieve instant cash and fiat currency deposits and withdrawals, converting both physical cash and digital fiat into stablecoins or other on-chain assets.

Wallet Infrastructure Layer: Relying on Sequence’s enterprise-grade smart wallets and account abstraction technology, combined with one-click cross-chain trading and interaction capabilities, allowing end users to complete on-chain receipt, transfer, and payment operations without concerning themselves with underlying chains, gas fees, or intermediary assets.

Crosschain Interop Layer: Combining Sequence’s Trails cross-chain orchestration engine and Polygon’s interoperability protocol to make value flows between different chains completely transparent to users, supporting cross-chain transactions across any chain and any token.

Blockchain Rails Layer: Leveraging Polygon’s network and scaling technology to provide fast, low-cost, and secure on-chain settlement infrastructure, enabling stablecoin payments and value transfers at commercial scale and efficiency.

Additionally, Open Money Stack plans to integrate stablecoin orchestration with compliance, identity, and yield generation modules to provide enterprises with payment and fund management solutions.

L2 Competition Shifts to “Full-Stack Integration”

Polygon’s $250 million acquisition reflects that competition in the L2 track is shifting from underlying technical parameters to full-stack business integration.

This approach is highly consistent with Coinbase’s strategy in supporting Base. The compliant entry point of acquiring Coinme compensates for shortcomings in fiat on/off-ramps, matching Coinbase’s core CEX advantages; integrating Sequence for interaction experience lowers on-chain barriers, matching the usability of Coinbase Wallet (Base).

Against the backdrop of converging L2 technology, ecosystems with compliant channels and low-threshold experiences will more easily attract incremental capital. Through this series of acquisitions, Polygon is attempting to construct its own end-to-end moat in competition with opponents like Base that possess native centralized advantages.