Nium buys Cypher to extend payments infrastructure into crypto wallets

Nium has acquired Cypher, a crypto-focused non-custodial wallet and card issuing company, as it seeks to broaden its cross-border payments infrastructure across fiat and digital assets. The company said the deal adds technical and operational expertise for serving Web3 companies, exchanges, wallets and fintechs building digital-asset services.

The acquisition follows Nium’s launch of a stablecoin-backed issuing product and its move to support funding and settlement with stablecoins across its cross-border payment network, according to the company announcement. Nium said those products have drawn demand from consumer-facing Web3 companies and established fintechs entering digital assets.

Cypher team joins Nium

Cypher was founded by Kuberan Marimuthu, known as Kube, and was backed by Y Combinator and Coinbase Ventures, according to Nium. The company said Cypher has spent four years developing products that connect on-chain activity with traditional banking services.

Marimuthu has joined Nium as vice president of digital assets and will report to chief executive Prajit Nanu, Nium said. Cypher’s engineering team has also moved to Nium.

Before founding Cypher, Marimuthu held engineering leadership roles focused on payments and risk at Coinbase, Amazon and Zenefits, according to Nium.

Stablecoins and card issuing

Nium framed the acquisition as part of a broader effort to become an infrastructure provider for value transfer across conventional payment rails and blockchain networks. Its existing business is centred on cross-border money movement, while the newer digital-asset products are intended to connect card issuing, settlement and fiat-to-crypto conversion for companies serving end users.

Stablecoin-backed issuing allows a company to link card programmes to digital-asset funding or settlement arrangements. In practice, such products are used to give users a familiar card experience while the provider handles the conversion, funding and compliance processes that sit behind the transaction.

Nium said Web3 companies and traditional fintechs need card issuing, international payment capabilities and links between fiat currency and digital assets to support larger user bases. The company also said Cypher brings experience with the technical requirements of blockchain-based products, which Nium intends to combine with its compliance, security and reliability systems.

Payments infrastructure rationale

In the announcement, Nium said existing cross-border payment processes can be slowed by correspondent banking flows and that trillions of dollars sit in nostro accounts for days. Nostro accounts are balances that banks hold with other banks, often in foreign currencies, to support international payments and settlements.

Nium also pointed to so-called agentic payments, in which software or automated systems initiate or complete transactions, as an area that will require new layers for value exchange and trust. The company said Cypher’s acquisition would help it develop infrastructure spanning bank accounts, wallets, local and cross-border transfers, and fiat and digital currencies.

The announcement did not include financial terms for the transaction.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.