Polygon's Ambitious $250 Million Stablecoin Initiative Faces Challenges

Summary: Polygon Labs is making a significant move in the stablecoin sector through a $250 million acquisition of Coinme and Sequence. This strategic step aims to enhance its capabilities in stablecoin transactions and cross-border payments, leveraging increasing demand in the crypto space. However, despite high transaction volumes, POL, the native token of Polygon, is currently under bearish pressure.

Key Takeaways

Polygon Labs is acquiring Coinme and Sequence for over $250 million to strengthen its position in the stablecoin market.
The acquisitions will help streamline crypto-to-fiat transactions and enhance cross-border payment services.
Despite increased transaction volumes, POL token faces bearish trends, recently dropping to $0.15 after peaking at $0.18.
Future price movement for POL will depend on market reactions to Polygon's strategic expansion.

Polygon makes a $250 mln stablecoin bet - But POL still struggles

Polygon Labs’ $250 Million Acquisition

On January 13th, Polygon Labs announced a major acquisition deal worth over $250 million with Coinme and Sequence. This move is aimed at expanding Polygon's reach in the stablecoin market and enhancing its capabilities in digital transactions. Since the U.S. Congress passed the Genesis Act last year, there has been a substantial rise in demand for stablecoins as a payment method. Polygon Labs aims to be a key player in this rapidly growing landscape as more institutions adopt cryptocurrency payments.

Though Polygon's acquisition is a notable step, it is part of a broader trend where various crypto firms strive to operate within the banking sector on a blockchain basis. Despite the ambition, the necessary infrastructure to fully realize this vision is still being developed, making Polygon's recent deal a significant leap in market influence.

Benefits of the Acquisition for Polygon

The acquisition of Coinme, a crypto payment services provider, and Sequence, which offers wallet infrastructure, is crucial for Polygon’s upcoming Open Money Stack initiative. With these platforms, Polygon aims to facilitate smoother cross-border transactions and improve its stablecoin payment systems. Coinme brings valuable infrastructure with money transmitter licenses across 48 states and access to 50,000 locations for crypto and fiat exchanges. Meanwhile, Sequence enhances Polygon's offerings by providing enterprise-grade wallets and technology for cross-chain transactions.

Polygon's strategy is designed to cater to mainstream payment needs while capitalizing on the enormous potential of over 450 million expected stablecoin transactions in 2025, merging cryptocurrency advantages with necessary regulatory adherence.

Polygon Active address and transactions

Source: Defillama

Polygon Ecosystem on the Rise

Thanks to its ongoing expansion efforts, Polygon has seen extraordinary growth, reaching record transaction levels. As highlighted by AMBCrypto, Polygon recorded an impressive 1.4 billion transactions in 2025. This strong usage has continued into 2026, with the average number of transactions remaining around 6 million over the past two weeks. According to Defillama, the daily transaction count currently stands at approximately 6.11 million, showcasing robust on-chain engagement.

Moreover, this surge in transaction volume is supported by a solid user base. Active users have fluctuated between 400,000 and 700,000 during the same timeframe, indicating strong demand within the network. The elevated levels of addresses and transactions suggest genuine interest in Polygon, which could positively influence the price of its native token, POL.

Bearish Pressures on POL

Despite the surge in network usage and market expansion, POL has been experiencing strong bearish pressures. After reaching a peak price of $0.18, POL dropped to a low of $0.15 but slightly recovered to $0.16 during the latest counts. This downturn is mainly attributed to profit-taking activity from January 10th to 14th, as selling volume surged to 835.86 million once POL hit its peak.

polygon buy sell volume

Source: Coinalyze

As a consequence, the selling pressure has intensified, leading to a decline in the Relative Strength Index (RSI) from 85 to 65. Although the RSI remains in a bullish region, it shows that buying momentum is slowing down. Additionally, the Relative Vigor Index (RVGI) has crossed into bearish territory, registering at 0.24, which further corroborates the weaker market trend.

POL RSI and RVGI

Source: TradingView

If the selling trend continues, POL may break the $0.15 support level and potentially drop to $0.14. Conversely, a favorable market reaction to Polygon Labs’ recent acquisitions could help POL retest the $0.18 mark, potentially pushing past the $0.20 threshold.

Conclusion

In summary, while Polygon Labs is making bold moves to capture the stablecoin market through strategic acquisitions, the performance of their native token, POL, remains under pressure amid a volatile market. How the crypto community and institutions respond to these efforts will be crucial in determining Polygon's future success and stability in the expanding blockchain space.