News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily reports: Polygon Labs has announced the completion of its acquisition of Coinme, a US-regulated crypto payment service provider, with plans to leverage stablecoin infrastructure to enter the payments market dominated by Visa and Stripe. Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron stated that the acquisition will help Polygon Labs own customer relationships and capture revenue that previously flowed to intermediaries; Polygon Labs has now become a payments-focused company that uses blockchain to move money. In January, Polygon Labs launched Open Money Stack to support stablecoin payments and cross-border transfers, and to charge fees for currency exchange and money transfers. Marc Boiron said the regulated payments business is expected to become profitable by 2027. Data shows that Visa's payment volume exceeded $12.3 trillion in fiscal year 2025, while Stripe's payment volume reached $1.9 trillion. Through the acquisition of Coinme, Polygon Labs will control more business processes in areas such as crypto asset, stablecoin, and fiat currency conversion, rather than handing customers over to third parties. Polygon Labs' unified payments platform is currently still in technical preview and not yet fully open; early users include Tazapay, Mesh, Toku, and Kira.
According to Polygon's official blog, Polygon Labs announced the completion of its acquisition of Coinme, officially making its payment infrastructure product, Polygon Open Money Stack (OMS), a US-regulated payment platform. The platform currently covers 48 U.S. states, holds 37 state money transmitter licenses and 11 exemptions, and is registered with FinCEN as a money services business.
Ethereum Layer 2 infrastructure Optimism has officially announced a tripartite strategic collaboration, joining forces with Upbit operator Dunamu, fintech platform Toss, and DB Securities to comprehensively expand into the Korean market. On the cooperation front with Dunamu, both parties will upgrade the GIWA public chain based on the OP Stack and promote its global development. A three-month technical verification will be conducted with Toss to build a compliant Korean won digital financial infrastructure. Optimism and DB Securities are focusing on the STO and RWA sectors, planning to transform Jeju Island's smart agriculture, livestock assets, and Korean intellectual property into tokenized securities and real-world asset products. This will facilitate the phased on-chain commercialization of local physical assets, with the entire cooperation framework tailored to align with Korea's financial regulatory framework.
Odaily Planet Daily reported that Korean fintech company Toss has announced a partnership with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs to jointly explore a Korean won-pegged stablecoin.In the coming months, the three parties will conduct a Proof of Concept (PoC) test to evaluate the feasibility of building compliant blockchain-based digital financial infrastructure on OP Stack, providing technical verification for applications related to a Korean won stablecoin. (The Block)
Benchmark has maintained a "Buy" rating for Coinbase with a $270 price target, implying approximately 59.5% upside from its Tuesday closing price of $169.27. The firm noted that Coinbase's latest "System Update" indicates it is accelerating its transformation from a crypto trading platform into an "everything exchange" that bridges traditional finance and the on-chain economy.Analyst Mark Palmer stated that this product update covers tokenized stocks, stock and crypto options, pre-IPO perpetual contracts, prediction markets, AI-driven investment tools, agent payment infrastructure, and retail financial products, signaling the continuous expansion of its business boundaries.Key progress highlighted by Benchmark also includes: the U.S. CFTC's approval for it to operate as a regulated Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), global derivatives capabilities obtained through the acquisition of Deribit, and integrating crypto perpetuals and options into a compliant framework, thereby achieving cross-market liquidity consolidation.Furthermore, the company's strategic moves in the Base ecosystem, prediction markets, and AI agent payments are also seen as key signals of its evolution from "spot crypto trading" to a comprehensive on-chain financial infrastructure. (The Block)
According to The Block, Gemini’s Olympus division has officially received a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) license from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), enabling it to serve as an internal clearing house for settlement, risk management, and collateral management—eliminating reliance on third-party clearing and potentially reducing operational costs. Combined with its previously obtained Designated Contract Market (DCM) license, Gemini now possesses full-stack, compliant capabilities across futures, options, perpetual contracts, and prediction markets. Gemini is currently pursuing a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) license to complete its full suite of CFTC authorizations, positioning itself for direct competition with Kraken and Coinbase.
According to CoinDesk, Nigel Farage, leader of the UK’s Reform UK party, is facing a parliamentary standards inquiry after receiving an undisclosed £5 million (approximately $6.7 million) grant from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne—prior to his election as a Member of Parliament in 2024. Harborne resides in Thailand and holds a 12% stake in stablecoin issuer Tether. Farage stated that the grant was intended to ensure his personal security—not for political activities. However, both the Conservative and Labour parties have accused him of violating House of Commons rules requiring MPs to register any income received within the 12 months preceding their election, and have referred the matter to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. Reform UK countered that the payment constitutes a “personal unconditional gift,” exempt from disclosure requirements and unrelated to the election. The UK government announced in March this year that it would suspend political parties’ acceptance of cryptocurrency donations to guard against foreign interference. Previously, Christopher Harborne donated £9 million to Reform UK—the largest single political donation ever made by a living individual in the UK. This year, Ben Delo, co-founder of BitMEX, also donated £4 million to the party. Additionally, Farage himself holds a 6.31% stake in Stack BTC, a Bitcoin treasury company.
According to Cointelegraph, the UK’s Liberal Democrats have written to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requesting an investigation into Nigel Farage—the leader of Reform UK—and his ties to the bitcoin company Stack BTC. The party questions whether Farage’s appearance in the company’s promotional video, while holding shares in Stack BTC, violates market rules and constitutes a conflict of interest. Stack BTC recently disclosed that it purchased 37 bitcoins—valued at approximately $2.7 million—as corporate reserves; Farage holds a 6.31% stake in Stack BTC through his media company. This incident comes as the UK government advances a proposal to ban cryptocurrency political donations, aiming to prevent external funding from interfering with elections. The FCA stated it will review the letter and respond accordingly.