Polygon Labs has completed its acquisition of Coinme, a U.S.-regulated crypto payments provider. The deal gives the Cayman Islands-based company more control over converting cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and traditional money. It also marks a push into payments processing, a sector led by Visa and Stripe.
Polygon moves into payments
CEO Marc Boiron told CoinDesk that Polygon Labs expects its regulated payments business to become profitable in 2027. The company is known for developing the Polygon blockchain, but it now wants to handle more of the payment process itself. In January, Polygon introduced the Open Money Stack, a product for stablecoin payments and cross-border transfers. With Coinme, Polygon can collect fees for conversions and transfers that previously went to other businesses.
Boiron said he has not viewed Polygon as competing with blockchains for some time. In his view, the company is payments-focused and uses blockchains, especially Polygon, to move money. That shift may sound simple, but it changes the business model. Instead of only providing technology, Polygon wants the customer relationship and the fee revenue that comes with it.
Why Coinme matters
The acquisition addresses a familiar problem for blockchain networks. They often supply the rails for transactions but have little control over the companies that generate them. Before Coinme, Polygon might hand customers to a third party when money needed to enter or leave a blockchain. Boiron said that meant Polygon did not have the customer relationship and could not decide what happened next. He also claimed rival blockchains have offered financial incentives to payment companies to move transactions away from Polygon.
With a regulated payments business under its control, Polygon says it can keep those flows where it wants. That control is the main strategic point of the deal. It is less about adding another crypto service and more about owning the regulated steps around conversions and transfers.
Revenue and competition
Polygon Labs earns revenue from payment services. Transaction fees on the Polygon blockchain are separate, with priority fees going to validators and stakers. Boiron said transaction fees already offset token emissions and that millions of dollars in additional fees go to validators and token stakers.
The competitive gap remains large. Visa’s payments volume in fiscal 2025 topped $12.3 trillion. Stripe reached $1.9 trillion. Polygon is just starting. Profitability by 2027 is a target, not a guarantee, and the payments market rewards trust, compliance, and size. Polygon now has a regulated base in payments. Whether it can turn that into meaningful share is a different question.
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