Polygon Labs seeking to raise up to $100 million for stablecoin payments business: report

Polygon Labs is in talks to raise up to $100 million for a new stablecoin payments business, according to a report from The Information on Wednesday.

"The funding discussions come amid a nasty downturn in crypto. The new venture would be a way for Polygon to diversify out of a market that has stalled," the news outlet reported, citing anonymous sources.

Polygon is seeking to sell between $50 million and $100 million in equity in the new stablecoin venture in order to raise the capital needed for the project, according to the report. The company's CEO, Marc Boiron, is slated to lead the new payments business.

Payments are one of the few bright spots across the digital assets industry, with stablecoins increasingly playing a greater role in cross-border settlements. Chainalysis said Wednesday that as fiat-pegged crypto tokens are fast becoming part of the global payments infrastructure, stablecoin transaction volume could reach as high as $1.5 quadrillion within the next decade.

Circle, which issues the U.S. dollar-pegged USDC token, also said Wednesday it has launched a payments platform that allows financial firms like banks and fintechs to settle transactions using stablecoins without needing to hold digital assets.

Late last year, Revolut tapped Polygon as its "go-to stack for stablecoin transfers, payments, and trading." Revolut began integrating Polygon-based services directly into its app, unlocking easier stablecoin transfers and remittances using USDC and USDT.

Then, at the beginning of this year, Polygon Labs said as part of its new focus on global value transfers, it would launch Open Money Stack by the end of 2026. Open Money Stack will offer interoperable and customizable parts of the money tech stack to reduce the need for multiple service providers.