Toronto-based cryptocurrency infrastructure developer Sequence has been acquired by blockchain payments platform Polygon Labs to help Polygon scale up how it moves payments and other financial transactions on the blockchain.
Polygon says that it paid more than $250 million USD for the two startups
The Cayman Islands-based company acquired Sequence and another crypto firm, Seattle-based Coinme, in one fell swoop on Tuesday as it looks to build on its infrastructure for regulated stablecoin payments.
Polygon Labs told Fortune that it paid more than $250 million USD ($347 million CAD) for the two startups, but did not disclose how much it paid for each. Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron also denied CoinDesk’s reporting that the Coinme deal was worth between $100 million and $125 million on its own. When reached by BetaKit, Sequence declined to comment on the purchase price.
Polygon claims that its blockchain, built on Ethereum, has processed $2.2 trillion USD of value. Its platform powers payments for Stripe, Revolut, Flutterwave, and Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market.
Founded in 2017 as a blockchain gaming startup called Horizon, Sequence raised a $40-million USD Series A round in 2022 to grow its all-in-one developer platform and smart wallet for building Web3 games and applications. Investors in that round included video gaming firms Ubisoft Entertainment and Take-Two Interactive Software, as well as Round13 Capital, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, and even Polygon.
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Horizon changed its name to Sequence in April as the developer platform product became its front-facing brand. Now, under Polygon Labs and alongside Coinme, the crypto firms are building the Open Money Stack under one roof. The Open Money Stack is an integrated stack of technologies built to move money at scale using stablecoins and blockchain rails, according to Polygon.
Polygon Labs said in a blog post that stablecoins already act as money, but they’re missing the infrastructure to connect them to existing financial systems. To change that, Coinme brings its US-licenced fiat on- and off-ramps (and more than a million existing users) to the equation, while Sequence provides wallet infrastructure and one-click, cross-chain transactions.
Sequence is the latest example of a Canadian Web3 company being snatched up by a foreign firm, as US policies loosen crypto regulation and promote mainstream adoption.
In August, San Francisco-based crypto giant Ripple acquired Toronto-based stablecoin payments platform Rail for $275 million CAD to add virtual account and automated back-office infrastructure to its capabilities. Toronto’s WonderFi is also set to be acquired by trading platform Robinhood Markets for $250 million CAD in the first half of this year.
Sequence said in its own blog post that its products will continue to operate and that customers can keep building on them without interruption.
Feature image courtesy Shubham Dhage via Unsplash.