Polygon and Solana partner to link stablecoin transfers with bank payments

Polygon and Solana have partnered to help businesses move funds between cryptocurrencies and traditional bank accounts. Polygon Labs is extending its payments infrastructure, Open Money Stack, to Solana. Businesses on Solana can use one integration to access bank funding, digital wallets, cross-chain transfers and payouts. The agreement gives customers, mainly businesses, access to both networks without requiring a choice between the networks.

The agreement leaves the two blockchains separate. Businesses can keep transferring stablecoins on Solana and use Polygon's infrastructure for bank-account transfers and other payment services. Open Money Stack users can receive bank transfers, card payments and cash through supported providers. Businesses can also create wallets for customers, transfer assets across blockchains and pay into bank accounts. Cross-border payments company Kira is an early user of the integration. Kira combines stablecoin transfers on Solana with Polygon's banking connections to help customers pay overseas suppliers in dollars.

Banks and payment companies are adopting stablecoins more widely for transfers and settlement. Solana Foundation's general manager of payments, Jamal Raees, said the partnership lets companies use Polygon's regulated payment services while remaining on Solana. Raees said Solana Foundation wants to make further growth in payments and stablecoin activity easier on the network. Raees said Solana has handled more than $5.7 trillion in stablecoin transfers so far this year. Polygon has handled more than $3 trillion in total transfers since the network launched. Both totals count transfers between wallets as well as payments for goods and services.

Polygon Labs' global head of business, Aishwary Gupta, said Polygon and Solana still compete in some areas. However, Gupta said Polygon now provides wider payments infrastructure rather than only a blockchain. Gupta argued that businesses should not need to reconstruct payments infrastructure for each network. Gupta said cooperation benefits both companies as traditional financial institutions enter the stablecoin market. Gupta said banks and payment companies will want connections to networks where customers already keep funds, without creating a separate payments setup for each network.

Raees said banks entering the stablecoin market want links between existing systems and multiple blockchains without constructing separate payments infrastructure for each blockchain. Raees said collaboration with Polygon provides more connection options and that more options accelerate adoption throughout the industry. Polygon recently extended Open Money Stack support to TRON. Polygon also acquired Coinme, a U.S. company providing crypto payment services. Both developments form part of Polygon's expansion into banking and payments. Gupta said Polygon wants companies to use Polygon's payment services whatever blockchain customers prefer.

Polygon and Solana have competed for developers, users and transaction volume for years. In 2022, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal disputed claims that Solana had attracted more users, arguing that Polygon led in active users and developers. Polygon paid $3 million in 2023 to attract the prominent Solana NFT projects DeGods and y00ts to Polygon's network.