Decades of delivering for top-tier clients.

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

Architect Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor to the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Figure Markets

Transaction Overview

On July 17, 2025, Figure Technology Solutions (“Figure”) announced a definitive agreement to merge with Figure Markets. The combined company will operate under the Figure Technology Solutions name. The merger brings together Figure’s established consumer lending and securitization platform with Figure Markets’ crypto exchange. Financial terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed.

Target: Figure Markets

Figure Markets is a digital asset exchange launched in 2024 as a spin-off from Figure Technologies. At launch, the company raised $60 million in a Series A round led by Jump Crypto, Pantera Capital, and Lightspeed Faction. Figure Markets’ vision is to build a single platform for trading a wide range of blockchain-native assets. The company operates a crypto exchange, a blockchain-based securities marketplace, offers crypto-backed lending, and issues a yield-bearing stablecoin (YLDS)—all running on the Provenance blockchain.

Figure Markets’ competitors span both traditional crypto exchanges and emerging digital securities platforms. These include crypto trading firms like Coinbase and Kraken, as well as tokenized securities venues such as Securitize and tZERO.

Buyer: Figure Technology Solutions

Figure Technology Solutions, founded in 2018 by Mike Cagney (former CEO of SoFi), brings lending and capital markets onto blockchain rails. The company’s core business, often referred to as Figure Connect, is a consumer credit and loan marketplace that originates and tokenizes assets, predominantly home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), mortgages, and other consumer loans, on the public Provenance Blockchain. More than 175 partner lenders use Figure’s platform to produce standardized, blockchain-recorded loan assets, which are then sold and traded in a deep secondary marketplace.

Since its inception, Figure has funded over $16 billion in loans, making it the largest non-bank originator of HELOCs in the U.S. and capturing a growing share of the $35 trillion U.S. home equity market. The company connects loan originators with institutional buyers through a highly liquid, tokenized private loan market. Its technology enables near-instant loan approval and efficient securitization.

Through its subsidiaries, Figure also offers consumer-facing lending products, including HELOCs, mortgage refinancing, and crypto-backed loans, delivered through a fully digital process.

In 2024, Figure Technology generated $339 million in adjusted net revenue, reflecting more than 60% year-over-year growth, and achieved Adjusted EBITDA margins exceeding 30%.

The company’s last major financing was a Series D in September 2021, raising $200 million at a $3.2 billion post-money valuation. That round was led by 10T Holdings and Morgan Creek Digital Assets. Other major investors include Temerity Capital Partners, Baseline Ventures, DCM Ventures, and RPM Ventures. While Figure initially planned to go public in November 2023, the IPO was subsequently canceled.

Key competitors include 1X, Amount, Percent, Hometap, and Liquid Mortgage, as well as traditional HELOC lenders such as SoFi, Rocket Mortgage, LoanDepot, and Better.com.

Transaction Parameters

The agreement received unanimous board approval and is expected to close in Q3 2025, pending customary shareholder and regulatory approvals. Following the close, Michael Tannenbaum will remain CEO and Mike Cagney will serve as Executive Chairman, unifying the investor bases and positioning the firm for a potential future public listing.

Comparable previous transactions include: Swyftx | Caleb & Brown (M&A Alert), Robinhood | WonderFi (M&A Alert), Ripple | Hidden Road (M&A Alert),  Coinbase | Deribit (M&A Alert), Securitize | Pacific Stock Transfer.

Strategic Rationale

The merger will create a single, end-to-end platform capable of originating consumer loans, tokenizing them on the Provenance Blockchain, and trading those assets on Figure’s marketplace. It cements Figure’s leadership in digital assets while combining engineering and compliance talent to accelerate new product development.

Bringing both businesses under one roof also unifies Figure’s extensive U.S. lending licenses with Figure Markets’ SEC-registered digital asset framework and offshore exchange structure, strengthening regulatory coverage and simplifying oversight.

The timing enables Figure to capitalize on surging institutional demand for tokenized assets, positioning the combined firm for global expansion and a potential public listing as market sentiment toward crypto continues to improve.

Architect Partners’ Observations

This merger marks a reversal of the March 2024 spin-off of Figure Markets from Figure Technology Solutions. At the time, separating the two businesses helped insulate Figure Technology from the negative stigma surrounding crypto in the aftermath of the FTX collapse.

Despite the separation, the two entities have always shared the same founder and a unified vision for digital assets, specifically that securities will rapidly transition to digital form through tokenization and become mainstream. Figure Technology’s HELOC offering has already demonstrated the value of this model in practice.

Figure is widely regarded as the leading innovator in tokenizing real-world assets, applying the core innovations of crypto to unlock access to the $35 trillion U.S. home equity market. While tokenized dollars in the form of stablecoins have captured most of the headlines, tokenizing securities and building the supporting infrastructure may prove to be an equally significant or even greater opportunity.

Sources 

Figure Press Release, Figure Markets Newsroom,  Figure Markets Press Release, CB Insights, Linkedin, Housing Wire, Axios

Transaction Overview

On July 1st, 2025, Swyftx, one of the largest Australian cryptocurrency exchanges, announced a definitive agreement to acquire Caleb & Brown, a high-net-worth-focused crypto brokerage, for an undisclosed amount.

Target: Caleb & Brown

Caleb and Brown is a Melbourne-based, high net worth focused crypto brokerage that specializes in personalized trading services across the digital asset landscape. Caleb & Brown focuses on the relationship model used successfully across traditional  financial services – every client that comes onto their platform gets assigned a broker to assist them in executing trades  and handling all customer service needs. Caleb and Brown’s core services include 1) Brokerage Services, which provide personalized 24/7 trading support for 250+ digital assets, 2) an OTC Desk, which provides high volume trading solutions with deep liquidity and competitive pricing, 3) the Caleb and Brown Asset Management, an actively managed crypto asset fund for accredited investor, 4) crypto custody. 

The business has more than AUD $2 billion of digital assets under custody and was founded by Rupert Hackett and Dr. Prash Puspanathan in 2016. C&B is led by CEO Jackson Zeng and has 64 team members across both Australia and the US. Caleb & Brown has not raised any outside capital. 

Architect Partners’ Observations

Architect Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Caleb & Brown. 

Swyftx’s acquisition of Caleb & Brown marks the largest acquisition targeting high net worth crypto investors. It also reflects two important shifts in the evolution of crypto exchanges, particularly within the ANZ region.

First, high-net-worth client service is becoming a strategic differentiator. Exchanges are beginning to recognize that personalized brokerage and deep client relationships offer a competitive advantage while greatly reducing attrition. This is a model that high-net-worth clients are accustomed to in their financial lives. Caleb & Brown’s approach, which assigns a dedicated broker to every client, stands apart from the high-volume, low-touch models that dominate the market. Swyftx gains access not only to clients but also to an established business model that emphasizes trust, service, and retention in a way few crypto exchanges have pursued.

Second, this is a milestone moment for ANZ crypto M&A. While there have been many plays for global expansion by exchanges, this is the first of its kind in Australia moving into the US, signaling that the region is entering a more active phase of market maturity. 

We believe this transaction will serve as a catalyst for further strategic activity to expand globally and to augment services as companies seek differentiation in both product and customer segments.

Strategic Rationale

Swyftx is acquiring Caleb & Brown to expand into the United States via C&B’s regulatory framework, and to acquire the relationship model inherently required with a higher-tier customer base. This acquisition will grant Swyftx entry into the U.S. 12 to 24 months faster than otherwise possible organically. Furthermore, the acquisition diversifies Swyftx’s primarily retail client base to include 25k+ high net worth individuals in numerous countries. 

“Caleb & Brown has quietly established one of the most impressive brokerage offerings in the world, with a heavily differentiated private client service. We see enormous growth potential.” – Jason Titman

Architect Partners was the exclusive Financial Advisor to Champ Titles.

Transaction Overview

On March 27, 2024, Cleveland-based digital title and registration platform Champ Titles announced an $18 million Series C equity round led by Point72 Ventures with participation by existing investors.

Company Description

Champ Titles provides a digital title and registration suite to streamline the vehicle titling process. Their platform enables the creation of legal, digital titles for easy transfer and verification, serving insurance carriers, lenders, state governments, auto dealers, and owners. Stakeholders, including state motor vehicle departments, lenders, and vehicle owners, benefit from a unified and transparent system, where all information is readily accessible and transaction times are markedly reduced. The governance of the digital platform is established through clear guidelines, ensuring all parties adhere to the updated processes and regulations.

Champ Titles’ success is measured by the elimination of more than 5 million pieces of paper annually on average per state; a reduction in processing time from 40-60 days to a matter of hours; increased productivity of DMV title clerks processing more than five times as many titles per day; and the improved experience for consumers in each state that has adopted Champ Titles’ solutions. Over the last twelve months, the company has successfully onboarded new states including New Jersey, Kentucky, and Illinois, and expanded its relationship with West Virginia by creating the first National Digital Titling Clearinghouse (NDTC). Through these efforts, the company has grown rapidly with revenue increasing by more than 300% year over year. 

Founded in 2018 by CEO, Shane Bigelow, the company now has 63 employees and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Funding

In this Series C funding round, Champ Titles raised $18M from Point72 Ventures and existing investors including W.R. Berkley Corporation, Eos Venture Partners, Guidewire Software, and Rev1 Ventures, bringing the total amount raised since inception to $45M. 

In the prior Series B round, Champ Titles raised $13M from Guidewire Software, Eos Venture Partners, and Ally Ventures.

Before that, Champ Titles raised $13.5M in 2021 in a Series A. Emergents, now Architect Partners, served as the exclusive Financial Advisor for that financing. 

Competition

Champ Titles’ biggest competitors are existing state DMVs deciding to be a software company and developing solutions on their own or via large systems developers.  However, they also compete with other digital title networks such as Cario and Oxhead Alpha/Tezos. In addition, technology-enabled DMV solutions such as Fast Enterprises are seen as competitive but don’t offer the same efficacy.

Architect Partners’ Perspective

Champ Titles’ SaaS-based solutions present a compelling example of blockchain-enabled infrastructure solving real-world problems.  By focusing on the needs and pain points of legacy auto title, registration, and lien processing, Champ has leveraged the power of blockchain to transform critical government services.  The result is exponentially accelerated processing time for DMV constituents, with improved accuracy and reduced cost.  Yet Champ’s solutions capture many key benefits of on-chain data processing – which include trust, transparency, data integrity, security, and efficiency – without users even being aware of their blockchain foundations.  

While much attention is focused on recent resilience in crypto asset prices, we believe 2024 will see significant growth in non-speculative enterprise applications for distributed ledger technology.  Champ’s successful raise demonstrates investor interest in practical and scalable solutions to real-world problems.