Kraken Parent Payward Buys Magic Labs’ Wallet Unit

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, agreed on July 27 to buy the wallet-as-a-service business of Magic Labs. The transaction is an asset purchase that covers Magic Labs’ embedded non-custodial wallet technology; financial terms were not disclosed. Both companies said the deal is expected to close within weeks and that existing wallet customers will begin moving to Payward Services on August 1.

Magic Labs built tooling that lets developers embed self-custodial wallets inside apps without requiring users to manage seed phrases. Its APIs and SDKs handle wallet creation, user authentication, transaction signing and on-chain automation. The infrastructure has created more than 60 million wallets, served over 200,000 developers and processed in excess of $10 billion in stablecoin transaction volume. Clients have included Polymarket and WalletConnect.

Payward plans to fold the acquired technology into Payward Services, its business-to-business platform that offers trading, custody, tokenized assets, derivatives and fiat on- and off-ramps. Company materials state Payward chose an outright acquisition rather than a licensing arrangement to bring the wallet layer under direct control. The deal follows Payward’s July 1 acquisition of payments firm Reap and its April agreement to buy derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million.

Magic Labs will rebrand as Newton Labs and focus on Newton Protocol, an authorization layer for on-chain finance that performs pre-settlement policy checks. In a statement, Sean Li, Magic Labs’ chief executive, wrote: “This transition allows us to put our full energy behind Newton, the authorization layer for onchain finance, while the wallet business moves to a team committed to serving our customers.”

Integration work will begin after the transaction closes. Payward and Magic Labs said migration will require moving a large developer base and maintaining wallet services without interruption. The companies also said the sale is subject to customary closing conditions.

Embedded non-custodial wallets are a common surface for stablecoin payments, remittances and on-chain settlement inside consumer and fintech applications. The acquired infrastructure already carries live stablecoin volume, and Payward will operate that rail as part of its enterprise product stack.