Crypto Partnerships Roundup: Polygon, Stripe, And Dow Jones Shape January’s 2nd Week

In Brief

The second week of January highlighted crypto’s shift from experimental projects to pragmatic integration with traditional finance, payments, and public-sector infrastructure.

The second week of January marked a clear acceleration in crypto’s convergence with traditional finance, payments, and public-sector infrastructure. Rather than speculative partnerships or experimental pilots, this week’s announcements focused on regulated expansion, institutional distribution, and real-world adoption at scale.

From Polygon’s push into stablecoin payments and Stripe’s deeper engagement with crypto settlement, to sovereign-level stablecoin initiatives and mainstream media partnerships with onchain prediction markets, the tone was notably pragmatic. These collaborations highlight how crypto firms are increasingly aligning with banks, fintech giants, governments, and enterprise platforms to embed blockchain technology into existing financial workflows.

Polygon Labs Acquires Coinme and Sequence in Strategic Payments Push

Polygon Labs announced a major strategic move to acquire both Coinme (a U.S. crypto payments and cash-to-crypto conversion firm) and Sequence (a wallet-infrastructure provider) in deals valued at more than $250 million. This initiative is part of Polygon’s effort to build what it calls the “Polygon Open Money Stack,” focusing on regulated stablecoin-based payment infrastructure in the U.S. market.

The acquisitions are intended to combine Coinme’s wide retail footprint for cash-to-crypto flows and Sequence’s user-friendly wallet tech with Polygon’s existing ecosystem. Polygon’s CEO emphasized that the company is positioning itself as a regulated payments entity that can support business-to-business stablecoin transactions and ultimately expand into consumer services.

This partnership pivot signals a broader industry trend where blockchain infrastructure projects are securing core payment rails and regulatory-compatible touchpoints rather than focusing purely on token or network expansion.

ADI Foundation Partners with M-Pesa to Bring Millions Onchain

The ADI Foundation, the organization backing the Abu Dhabi Institutional L2 blockchain, announced a partnership with M-Pesa, the mobile money platform used by over 60 million users across Africa. This deal, revealed in early January, aims to integrate blockchain infrastructure with M-Pesa’s payments network.

This collaboration reflects a strategic push to merge the accessibility of mobile money in emerging markets with the programmability and settlement efficiency of on-chain stablecoins and digital assets. By aligning with one of Africa’s most pervasive payment platforms, ADI Foundation is extending institutional blockchain adoption into high-velocity consumer use cases beyond traditional financial centers.

Polymarket Teams Up with Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal

Prediction market platform Polymarket announced a partnership with Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal aimed at redefining the visibility and credibility of on-chain prediction markets. The collaboration, announced in early January, will combine Polymarket’s decentralized, real-time event markets with Dow Jones and WSJ editorial and data resources.

The goal is to bring mainstream financial media scrutiny and distribution to crypto-native forecasting venues, potentially attracting institutional liquidity. By embedding Polymarket feeds into established financial channels, this deal could help normalize on-chain probability markets among traditional investors and business professionals.

Stripe and Crypto.com Form Crypto Settlement and Payment Alliance

Payment giant Stripe and global crypto platform Crypto.com revealed a collaboration to jointly develop settlement and payment solutions that drive broader crypto acceptance among merchants and enterprise partners. Announced around January 8, this partnership positions Stripe’s extensive payment processing infrastructure alongside Crypto.com’s crypto rails.

Stripe’s interest in strengthening its crypto offerings underscores how traditional fintech firms are increasingly treating blockchain payments as strategic technology rather than fringe experiments. For Crypto.com, aligning with Stripe expands its reach into mainstream commerce and potentially boosts card-linked crypto services.

21Shares and A&G Banco Launch Crypto Index ETP Partnership

Swiss issuer 21Shares teamed up with A&G Banco to introduce a new flexible crypto index ETP (FLEX) that combines dynamic crypto allocation with rules-based portfolio management. The product marries 21Shares’ digital asset expertise with the regulated banking experience of A&G Banco.

This collaboration expands regulated access points for diversified digital asset exposure. Instead of a static single-token product, the new ETP aims to offer volatility-managed crypto investing through a structure that meets institutional risk standards while providing tradable crypto indexing — signifying another step toward hybrid TradFi–crypto offerings.

Pakistan Partners with World Liberty Financial on Stablecoin Initiative

Pakistan’s government signed an agreement with World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture linked to the Trump family, to explore integrating its dollar-linked stablecoin, USD1, into the country’s financial system. Reported today, the deal includes engagement with the State Bank of Pakistan to pilot regulated stablecoin payments and improve cross-border remittances.

This arrangement marks a rare instance of a sovereign nation entering a stablecoin partnership with a major private crypto entity, highlighting the growing role of blockchain-native money in national payment infrastructure strategies. It also reflects broader interest in leveraging stablecoins for remittances and digital finance modernization.

Ingenico and WalletConnect Bring Stablecoin Payments to Physical Retail

Ingenico’s partnership with WalletConnect Pay represents a significant step toward making stablecoin payments usable in everyday, physical retail environments. By integrating WalletConnect Pay into Ingenico’s global point-of-sale infrastructure, the collaboration enables merchants to accept stablecoin payments directly at checkout using existing hardware. Customers can pay from their own mobile wallets, while funds move directly to the merchant’s payment provider without relying on traditional card networks.

The key value proposition lies in simplicity and compatibility. Merchants do not need to install new devices, manage crypto balances, or change their operational workflows. From their perspective, stablecoins function like another payment method alongside cards, while settlement occurs on-chain in the background. For consumers, the experience is equally familiar, using wallets they already hold rather than new apps or custodial systems.

With Ingenico terminals deployed across retail, hospitality, transportation, fuel, and self-service sectors globally, the integration significantly expands the real-world footprint of stablecoin payments. The rollout to acquirers and payment service providers signals a focus on enterprise adoption rather than niche crypto use cases, positioning stablecoins as a practical settlement layer rather than a speculative asset.

Freedom Finance Global and Binance Kazakhstan Explore Crypto-as-a-Service Integration

Freedom Finance Global’s memorandum of understanding with Binance Kazakhstan highlights how traditional brokerage platforms are incorporating crypto through infrastructure partnerships rather than building from scratch. By integrating Binance’s Crypto-as-a-Service offering, Freedom aims to provide its clients with access to digital asset trading while maintaining a unified, branded user experience within its existing brokerage ecosystem.

The partnership allows Freedom to leverage Binance Kazakhstan’s liquidity, custody, and trading infrastructure, enabling crypto functionality without fragmenting the customer journey. Clients will be able to manage both traditional financial instruments and digital assets through a single interface, reducing friction and complexity. Importantly, this approach keeps compliance, onboarding, and regulatory alignment centralized under Freedom’s platform, which is critical for institutional and retail investors in regulated markets.

From Binance’s perspective, the collaboration extends its institutional footprint across Kazakhstan and the broader CIS region, embedding its infrastructure within established financial institutions rather than competing directly with them. Both parties emphasize financial inclusion and market development, suggesting a long-term strategy focused on scalable adoption rather than short-term user acquisition. The MoU sets the groundwork for testing new products and expanding crypto access through familiar financial channels.