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Coinme Acquired by Polygon Labs to Build its Open Money Stack
Coinme Acquired by Polygon Labs to Build its Open Money Stack

Transaction Overview
On January 13th, 2026, Polygon Labs announced it intends to acquire Coinme, a regulated crypto-as-a-service provider. Simultaneously, Polygon also announced the acquisition of Sequence, enabling payment flows across blockchain networks. Both acquisitions help build a fully integrated, rules-compliant stablecoin payments system – Poygon’s Open Money Stack.

Target: Coinme
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Seattle, Coinme is a U.S.-regulated digital asset payments company offering crypto-as-a-service and stablecoin and crypto payment infrastructure for enterprises, fintechs, wallets, and payment applications.

Coinme is licensed and operates in 48 U.S. states, as well as Puerto Rico, and has built systems designed to handle fiat-to-crypto and stablecoin payments at scale while meeting U.S. regulatory requirements.

Coinme provides capabilities that partners integrate into their products. These capabilities, delivered as a set of APIs or SDKs, include KYC, payments by debit card, bank transfer, or cash, converting between fiat and crypto, trading, and custody, so partners can offer end-to-end crypto and stablecoin features embedded in their own applications.

Coinme also supports a large cash-to-crypto network through partnerships, providing the software and compliance layer that enables cash on-ramps and off-ramps at 50,000+ locations across the U.S.

Coinme serves more than one million users and has processed more than $1.3 billion in total transactions since it launched. Its enterprise customers include Coinstar, Exodus, Mercuryo, Baanx, and Breeze.

Coinme was co-founded by CEO Neil Bergquist and has raised $41M in equity funding from Pantera, Digital Currency Group, Coinstar, Circle, and MoneyGram.

Coinme competitors include: ZeroHash, MoonPay, Bridge | Stripe, Banxa | OSL, and Paxos.

Buyer: Polygon Labs
Polygon was founded in 2017 as Matic Network and is actively undergoing an evolution in its product offering. Polygon Labs, formed in 2023, is responsible for supporting the development of the Polygon ecosystem, with a focus on fast, low-cost blockchain infrastructure for payments.

Polygon is now building the Open Money Stack, an integrated set of services designed to move money instantly and reliably, globally. It combines blockchain settlement on the Polygon network with core payment components like wallets, stablecoin integrations, cross-chain connectivity, and compliance tooling, to keep funds on-chain so they can be used across on-chain financial applications.

To make this work across many different blockchains, Polygon Labs is building AggLayer, a settlement layer meant to help different blockchains connect and exchange value with each other quickly and at low cost, reducing the need for separate, disconnected systems.

Polygon is a listed token with a current fully diluted value of $1.6B. Polygonscan shows more than 6.2 billion total transactions on Polygon. Polygon’s website also points to scale indicators like billions of dollars of stablecoins on the network, millions of transactions per day on average, and monthly payment volume, and describes Polygon as infrastructure that can support “trillions” of value moving through it.

The company was co-founded by Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, Mihailo Bjelic, and Anurag Arjun, and is currently led by CEO Marc Boiron, who was appointed in 2023.

Historically, in 2021, Polygon acquired zero-knowledge cryptography companies Mir and Hermez for $400M and $250M, respectively, but these are no longer aligned with the company’s Open Money Stack vision.

Transaction Parameters
Polygon Labs is acquiring Coinme for an undisclosed amount. In combination with another acquisition, Sequence, simultaneously announced by Polygon today. The combined acquisition value is around $250M. This marks one of the first examples of a protocol acquiring an operating business. The Coinme transaction is expected to close in Q2 2026.

Architect Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor to Coinme.

Notable comparable transactions include OSL | Banxa for $62M (M&A Alert), Nuvei | Simplex for $250M (M&A Alert), Ripple | Rail for $200M (M&A Alert), Stripe | Bridge for $1.1B (M&A Alert), MoonPay | Iron for $100M (M&A Alert), and MoonPay | Helio for $175M (M&A Alert).

Strategic Rationale
Polygon is acquiring Coinme and Sequence to move from being a settlement rail to owning the full experience of how money comes on-chain, moves on-chain, and settles back into the real world. The combination of Coinme’s licensed payments offering with Sequence’s wallet and payments orchestration stack gives Polygon an end‑to‑end, regulated crypto payments platform that spans physical kiosks, embedded wallets, and cross‑chain routing.

On Day 1, Polygon can take this integrated “crypto‑as‑a‑service” solution to banks, PSPs, neobanks, and fintechs who want compliant, turnkey stablecoin and token payments without building their own licensing, infrastructure, or user experience.

Architect Partners’ Observations
This acquisition(s) underscores a broader inflection point in the blockchain protocol market: technological performance and scalability alone will not win. The integration of real-world rails and the ability to deliver end-to-end value for mainstream users are becoming table stakes. As the market matures, competitive advantage is shifting toward owning the commercialization layer, including regulated fiat access, compliance operations, distribution channels, partner integrations, and strong product integration.

Networks that rely entirely on third-party providers risk commoditization, margin leakage, inconsistent user experience, and strategic dependency, just as stablecoins and tokenized products begin to drive meaningful transaction volume and the corresponding revenue opportunities.
Polygon’s actions show they fully understand the importance of this approach.

Sources
Polygon Press Release
Architect Partner M&A Tracker
PitchBook

Alerts

Coinshares uplists on U.S. Nasdaq via Reverse Merger with Vine Hill SPAC

Eric Risley
September 14th, 2025
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Transaction Overview

On September 7th, 2025, CoinShares announced a definitive SPAC merger agreement with Vine Hill Capital Investment Corp., a Nasdaq-listed SPAC. The transaction values CoinShares at approximately USD 1.2 billion and SEK 11.3 billion, corresponding to SEK 173.2 per ordinary share and a premium of 30.6% compared to its existing share price on the Swedish stock exchange. The transaction is priced at a 7.3x Enterprise Value / CY2024 EBITDA and 10.7x P/E ratio.

 

Target: CoinShares

CoinShares is a prominent European-based digital-asset asset manager known for its expertise in regulated, institutional-grade cryptocurrency investment products and services. Its offerings include exchange-traded products (ETPs), asset management, research, and capital markets solutions, tailored to a diversified client base of institutional and individual investors. 

 

CoinShares was founded in 2013, as a pivot of Global Advisors, a Jersey-based investment firm into crypto. In 2015 it helped launch Bitcoin Tracker One via XBT Provider, the first bitcoin-based security on a regulated exchange in Europe, kick-starting a large suite of crypto ETPs. It listed its shares on Nasdaq First North Growth Market in March 2021 and later received approval for Nasdaq Stockholm in 2022. In 2024, CoinShares expanded into the U.S. ETF market by acquiring Valkyrie’s ETF business following approval of the Valkyrie spot bitcoin ETF, strengthening its global footprint

 

CoinShares has grown quickly since 2023. Assets under management rose from about $3.82B at Dec 31, 2023 (from £3.0B) to about $6.89B at Dec 31, 2024 and about $10B by September 2025. Revenue increased from about $97.3M in 2023 (from £76.3M) to about $158.9M in 2024 (from £126.8M), with $81.5M reported in 1H 2025. Adjusted EBITDA rose from about $64.9M in 2023 (from £50.9M) to about $137.6M in 2024 (from £109.8M), reaching $56.1M in 1H 2025. Adjusted EBITDA margin was roughly 67% in 2023 and 67% in 2024, and 69–76% in 1H 2025 (depending on reporting basis). ETP inflows were about $268M in Q1 2025 and about $170M in Q2 2025. This step-up reflects stronger crypto markets, steady net inflows into flagship ETPs, and operating leverage as the platform scaled faster than costs. With AUM higher heading into late 2025 and a planned U.S. listing, the company is positioned to broaden its investor base and sustain growth.

 

It competes with major global asset managers like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale, as well as crypto-native firms such as 21Shares, Pantera, Polychain, Multicoin, and Amber Group. Regionally, it also faces niche rivals like Caleb & Brown, LedgerX, and BCB Group.

 

Buyer: Vine Hill

Vine Hill Capital Investment Corp is a US – Nasdaq-listed SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company) formed to merge with or acquire target companies and bring them public through a SPAC route. The company raised $200 million in its IPO on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol of VCICU on September 9, 2024, and currently has a Market Cap of approximately $306 million.

 

Transaction Parameters

CoinShares said it will move its listing to the U.S. through a three-party deal with Vine Hill and Odysseus Holdings (a CoinShares vehicle). It’s an all-stock deal valuing CoinShares at about SEK 11.3B ($1.2B), or SEK 173.2 per share, which is about 31% above the Sept 5 price (SEK 132.6). 

 

Alongside the merger, CoinShares arranged a ~$50M private placement from Alyeska Master Fund: 5,000,000 shares at $10 each plus 1,666,667 bonus shares (6,666,667 total; ~$7.50 effective price). That’s roughly 9% dilution. 

 

Closing is expected around Dec 17, 2025, with Odysseus shares targeted to start trading Dec 18. After closing, Odysseus will take Vine Hill’s place on Nasdaq and own 100% of CoinShares.

 

Strategic Rationale

CoinShares is already public in Sweden but not listed in the U.S. The transaction is meant to give the company access to more institutional investors and build brand awareness for new U.S. product launches, supporting its entry into the U.S. market.

 

According to Jean-Marie Mognetti, the CEO of CoinShares, “the case for digital assets as an investment class and blockchain as a transformative technology has reached a decisive inflection point and can no longer be ignored. The U.S. is now serving as the crucible of the digital asset space. A U.S. listing will reinforce our credibility, expand our reach, and position us to capture the opportunity in the world’s largest asset management market, home to over half of global assets under management.”

 

Architect Partners’ Observations

SPAC mergers with already-public companies are rare. This circumstance lent itself well to CoinShares, given the superior liquidity and access to capital in U.S. markets.

 

Sources 

PitchBook, Company information, Coinshares Press Release