Polygon buys Coinme to take on Visa and Stripe in payments: what it means

Polygon Labs says it has completed the purchase of Coinme, a crypto payments company regulated in the United States. The aim is to earn money by moving money, and to challenge giants like Visa and Stripe. The deal terms were not given.

Who is Polygon, and what did it buy?

Polygon Labs is based in the Cayman Islands. It develops the Polygon blockchain, a digital network that records transactions. Coinme is a US-regulated crypto payments provider. According to CoinDesk, the purchase lets Polygon convert between cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and traditional money using its own resources.

A stablecoin is a digital token designed to hold a steady value, usually tied to a currency like the US dollar.

Why does Polygon want to run payments itself?

Until now, Polygon supplied the technology but did not control the customers. CEO Marc Boiron told CoinDesk: "We don't have that customer relationship; we don't get to decide what happens."

He claimed rival blockchains have offered financial incentives to payment companies to move their transactions away from Polygon. CoinDesk does not give evidence for that claim.

Boiron said the Coinme deal changes this. "Now, when we are the ones running the regulated business, nobody can cause us to move flows anywhere that we don't want to, because we actually have those customer relationships."

How will Polygon make money?

Fees on the Polygon blockchain can be fractions of a cent. Those go to validators and stakers, the participants who help run the network. The payments business is different. It can earn fees based on the value of the money moved. Boiron said this revenue previously went to other businesses.

Boiron expects the regulated payments business to be profitable in 2027. The article gives no figures to back that up. That is a target, not a result.

How big are Visa and Stripe by comparison?

CoinDesk says Visa's payments volume in fiscal 2025 topped $12.3 trillion, and Stripe's reached $1.9 trillion. Volume is the total value of payments handled, not the money the companies earn. The article does not give Polygon's volume or revenue. CoinDesk says Polygon is "just starting its journey".

Are the big players standing still?

No. Stripe has been building stablecoin payments. Swift, the global bank messaging network, is developing blockchain infrastructure with major banks. Visa has added the Polygon blockchain to its stablecoin settlement network, alongside others.

So the challenge has changed. CoinDesk says it is no longer simply persuading companies to use Polygon's blockchain. It is convincing them to use Polygon Labs to move their money.

Can anyone use it yet?

Not widely. The unified payments platform is in technical preview, which means it is not yet generally available. Early users named by CoinDesk are Tazapay, Mesh, Toku and Kira.

Does this affect Nigerians?

The article says nothing about Nigeria or Africa. RainingMoney's reading: cross-border transfers are a daily need for many Nigerian traders, students and freelancers, so firms that promise cheaper, faster stablecoin transfers are worth watching. Nothing in the source says Polygon plans to serve this market, and regulators set the rules on what Nigerians can use.

What is still unknown?

• The price Polygon paid for Coinme.
• Polygon's current payment volume or revenue.
• When the platform will be open to all customers.