Payward Magic Labs acquisition adds embedded wallet infrastructure

Payward plans to acquire Magic Labs’ wallet-as-a-service business, a deal intended to add embedded non-custodial wallet infrastructure to its Payward Services platform, the company said Monday. The planned Payward Magic Labs acquisition would bring technology that Payward said has supported more than 60 million wallets, over $10 billion in stablecoin volume and 200,000 developers.

The transaction is expected to close within weeks, subject to customary closing conditions, according to Payward’s announcement. After completion, Magic Labs’ wallet technology will become part of Payward Services’ product suite.

Payward Services is the company’s business-to-business infrastructure platform for partners building financial products. Payward said the platform gives partners one integration point for products including crypto trading, custody, tokenized assets, on-ramps and off-ramps, and derivatives.

What does Payward get from Magic Labs?

Payward said Magic Labs’ technology will extend Payward Services into embedded wallets, allowing partners to offer self-custody and on-chain product experiences through the same platform. Non-custodial wallet infrastructure supports services in which end users can hold and use crypto assets without relying on the platform provider to act as the custodian.

Mark Greenberg, Payward’s chief commercial officer, said in the company release that embedded wallets are becoming a core layer for on-chain products. He said Magic Labs’ technology would let Payward bring that layer in-house and offer partners an integrated stack spanning exchange, custody and wallet capabilities, rather than requiring multiple providers.

The deal positions Payward Services as a broader infrastructure provider for companies building blockchain-based financial products. Payward framed the acquisition as part of an effort to reduce the need for partners to combine separate vendors for trading, custody, payments access and wallet functionality.

What happens to Magic Labs customers?

Sean Li, chief executive of Newton Labs, formerly Magic Labs, said in a LinkedIn post that Magic Labs wallet customers will be serviced by Payward starting Saturday, Aug. 1. Li said existing services and integrations will continue without interruption.

Li said Newton Protocol development, VaultKit and other Newton-related work will remain under Newton Labs. In Payward’s release, Li said the transition lets Newton Labs focus on Newton, which he described as the authorization layer for on-chain finance, while the wallet business moves to a team serving those customers.

The announcement follows another Payward Services expansion. On July 1, Payward said it had completed its acquisition of Reap, a payments infrastructure firm. That transaction, announced in May, was described by Payward as a move to expand Payward Services and provide a path to globally regulated infrastructure for stablecoin payments and card issuance.

Together, the Magic Labs and Reap deals show Payward adding infrastructure around wallets, payments and stablecoins for business customers. Payward has not disclosed financial terms for the Magic Labs wallet business acquisition in the Monday announcement.

This story draws on original reporting from PYMNTS.