Is Polygon the Next Big Stablecoin Play?

Maybe, but not in the way the issuers and exchanges already do. Stablecoins have two proven business models so far: issue a dollar token or distribute one and earn on the float. Circle does the first, Coinbase the second. Polygon is chasing a third role, the settlement layer that those dollars move across, and it is spending real money to get there.

How are companies already making money on stablecoins?

Circle (@circle) is the clearest case. It issues $USDC, the second-largest stablecoin, and earns most of its money from interest on the reserves backing those tokens. The more $USDC in circulation, the more it earns. That is the issuer model in its purest form.

Coinbase (@coinbase) does not issue $USDC but earns interest income through a revenue-sharing deal with Circle. That brought in about $1.35 billion over 2025, roughly 19% of total revenue and up 48% on the year. Because it tracks interest on reserves rather than trading fees, it held up even as Coinbase posted steep losses during the late-2025 downturn.

Polygon is trying to build the third piece: the rails the dollars actually travel on.

How is Polygon pushing into stablecoins?

Polygon (@0xPolygon) has spent the past year repositioning as a payments-first chain, and the usage data backs the pivot. Stablecoin supply on the network has more than doubled in a year, from $1.6 billion in early 2025 to about $3.76 billion by early June 2026, with $USDC making up roughly 55% of it. Monthly transfer volume reached around $298 billion, with cumulative settlements above $2.4 trillion. At its peak, Polygon handled as much as 35% of global USD stablecoin transfers in a single week.

The adoption is not all DeFi speculation. Real partners are moving real money:

Revolut named Polygon its go-to stack for stablecoin transfers and has moved more than $1.2 billion in cumulative volume on the network.

Stripe and Mastercard have tapped Polygon rails for low-cost settlement.

Real-world activity is concentrated in remittances and payroll across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Polygon has wrapped this into the Open Money Stack, a modular payments framework covering fiat ramps, wallets, compliance, and on-chain settlement. It was unveiled in early 2026 and is slated to launch in full by the end of the year.

What about the rumored $100 million raise?

This part is real but unconfirmed. On April 8, 2026, The Information reported that Polygon Labs is in early talks to raise between $50 million and $100 million in equity for a dedicated stablecoin payments business.

The raise builds on January 2026 acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence, worth more than $250 million combined. Coinme holds money-transmitter licenses in 48 US states, giving Polygon regulated access to American payment rails. One detail worth keeping straight: the money would buy equity in the payments business, not $POL itself. Token holders gain only if that business drives more activity onto the chain.

The timing tells its own story. The talks are happening during a deep crypto downturn. $POL trades near $0.09, down roughly 90% over two years, leaving a market cap just under $1 billion even as the chain clears billions in stablecoins each month. Polygon Labs also cut roughly 30% of its staff in January 2026. The payments push is as much a survival move as an ambition.

Why is the Polymarket dependence the real test?

In March 2026, prediction market Polymarket accounted for more than half of all Polygon transactions and about 67% of its gas fees, all settled in $USDC. That is heavy reliance on a single app, and it got riskier after a December 2025 Polygon outage knocked Polymarket offline and pushed it to start building its own Ethereum Layer 2.

That is where the payments business comes in. Volume from Revolut, Stripe, payroll, and remittances is spread across many users, not riding on one app.

Unlike the issuers and exchanges, which earn from stablecoin demand without owning the rails, Polygon is trying to build the rails that demand runs on. The real test is whether durable payment volume can grow large enough that no single app decides Polygon's fate.

Sources

The Information Original report that Polygon Labs is in early talks to raise up to $100 million for a stablecoin payments business.

Coinbase Q4 2025 Shareholder Letter Coinbase's own filing showing $1.35 billion in 2025 stablecoin revenue; the 19% revenue share is Bloomberg Intelligence's estimate.

DefiLlama Current Polygon stablecoin market cap, $USDC dominance, and $POL price and market cap, as of June 2026.

Crypto Briefing Polygon stablecoin supply, transfer volume, and cumulative settlement figures.

Fortune Circle's June 2025 NYSE debut, IPO pricing, and first-day stock performance.

crypto.news Polymarket's share of Polygon transactions and gas, the December 2025 outage, and its move to build its own L2.