Coinme, a Seattle-based cryptocurrency startup that got its start more than a decade ago with a network of bitcoin ATMs, has agreed to be acquired by Polygon Labs, a New York-based blockchain payments company.
Polygon said it also plans to acquire wallet provider Sequence as part of a combined acquisition valued at more than $250 million.
Founded in 2014, Coinme lets people buy crypto with cash at kiosks and says it runs the largest crypto cash network in the U.S. through partnerships with MoneyGram and Coinstar. The company holds money‑transmitter licenses and compliance infrastructure that allow it to operate in 48 U.S. states. Last year, the company surpassed $1 billion in transaction volume and became profitable for the first time.
The acquisition effectively plugs Coinme’s U.S. licenses, compliance stack, and cash‑to‑crypto distribution network into Polygon’s global blockchain payments rails. It gives the Seattle startup a new home inside a larger push to make stablecoin payments a standard part of the broader financial system.
The acquisition comes less than a month after Coinme was hit with a cease-and-desist order from Washington state regulators. The Washington state Department of Financial Institutions had ordered Coinme to stop transmitting money for customers, alleging the startup improperly claimed more than $8 million in customer funds as its own income.
On Dec. 30, Coinme said it reached an agreement with regulators to pause the temporary cease-and-desist order, clearing the way for the company to resume operations in the state. The company had called the original charges an accounting dispute over a discontinued voucher product.
Coinme CEO and co-founder Neil Bergquist said the acquisition deal with Polygon was brokered before the cease-and-desist order.
The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. Coinme will continue operating its regulated exchange, wallet, and crypto-as-a-service platform while contributing its licensing, compliance and payments infrastructure to Polygon Labs’ Open Money Stack.
“As a wholly owned subsidiary of Polygon, Coinme will remain true to who we are, with the same team and mission, now with the resources and reach to take it even further,” Bergquist said in a statement to GeekWire. “We’ll keep doing what we do best: making digital assets accessible to everyone, now at an even greater scale.”
Polygon, which raised a $450 million round in 2022 from investors including Sequoia Capital and SoftBank, said it supports millions of transactions daily for large banks, enterprises, and consumer apps.
In a LinkedIn post, Bergquist said a “shared vision and the need to build faster” led to the deal with Polygon.
“Coinme has tackled the regulatory requirements and crypto infrastructure, but the customer application layer must catch up,” he wrote. “Combined with clear federal regulatory support for stablecoins, including the GENIUS Act, consumers want an alternative to dollars trapped in bank accounts, and they want it now.”
Coinme raised more than $40 million, including $10 million round in 2021. Investors include Pantera Capital; Digital Currency Group; Coinstar; Circle; and MoneyGram.
“A big THANK YOU to Seattle-area Angels,” Bergquist wrote in his post. “You’re the reason we have a vibrant startup ecosystem (and the reason Coinme exists).”
