CoinGecko Explores $500M Sale

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Good Morning.

Crypto data is becoming strategic. CoinGecko exploring a $500M sale comes as dealmaking accelerates and established platforms are increasingly viewed as infrastructure, not media. At the same time, traffic is falling as users shift toward AI tools for information.

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In Today's Email:

• What Matters: CoinGecko Explores $500M Sale 👀 

• Case Study: Polygon’s $250M Pivot Into Payments 💰️ 

• Governance & Features: Ethena & Safe Enable Gas-Free USDe Transfers 🆓 

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WHAT MATTERS

CoinGecko Explores $500M Sale

State of play: CoinGecko is exploring a potential sale and has hired Moelis to advise on the process. The firm is reportedly targeting a valuation of around $500M, although one source said it may be too early for a final valuation to be set.

• The move comes amid a sharp rise in crypto sector mergers and acquisitions.

• In 2025, disclosed crypto M&A reached about $8.6B across a record 133 deals.

• At the same time, crypto data and media platforms are facing traffic pressure as users increasingly turn to AI tools for information.

• CoinGecko’s monthly traffic fell to about 18.5M in December 2025, down from 43.5M in 2024.

• Rival CoinMarketCap saw a similar decline, falling to roughly 64M from 157M over the same period.

Why it matters: CoinGecko weighing a sale shows how valuable trusted crypto data has become as the industry consolidates. At the same time, falling traffic highlights the pressure AI is putting on traditional data and media platforms.

Our take: This looks like smart timing. Strong data brands are turning into strategic assets as big players want control over distribution and user access, not just products.

For builders and investors: Long term value comes from products that are embedded into workflows, whether through integrations, tooling, or services that users depend on every day.

CASE STUDY

Polygon’s $250M Pivot Into Payments

Polygon Labs has agreed to spend more than $250M to acquire Coinme and Sequence, positioning both as core building blocks of its upcoming Open Money Stack. The deals mark one of Polygon’s largest acquisition moves to date.

• Coinme brings regulated fiat on and off ramps, including money transmitter licenses across 48 US states and a large physical cash to crypto network.

• Sequence adds smart wallet infrastructure and cross chain payment routing that enables simple, one click transactions across networks.

• The acquisitions support Polygon’s Open Money Stack, a middleware platform designed to handle global value transfers using stablecoins and other onchain assets.

• The goal is to offer developers a single, integrated stack covering compliance, identity, wallets, routing, and fiat access, rather than forcing them to piece together multiple providers.

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INSIGHTS

Senate Bill Targets Stablecoin Rewards on Idle Balances

State of play: The Senate Banking Committee released an updated bipartisan market structure bill that would ban yield or interest for simply holding stablecoins, while still allowing rewards tied to activity such as transactions, staking, or liquidity provision.

• The draft, led by Senator Tim Scott, reflects a compromise after weeks of negotiations between lawmakers, banks, and crypto firms.

• The proposal sharpens an ongoing debate over stablecoin rewards.

• Banks argue that interest like incentives create risk and loopholes left by the GENIUS Act, while crypto companies say further limits would stifle competition.

• The bill also includes protections for software developers, clarifying they are not treated as financial intermediaries for writing or maintaining code.

• The bill now heads toward committee markup.

FEATURES & GOVERNANCE UPDATE

Ethena and Safe Enable Gas-Free USDe Transfers

Ethena Labs has partnered with Safe Foundation to drive USDe adoption by enabling gas free Ethereum transfers via Safe multisig wallets and offering a 10x boost in Ethena rewards for held balances.

• Safe is widely used by DAOs and crypto native enterprises, already securing about $6.6B in stablecoins.

• Around $65.1M of that is sUSDe, representing the majority of Ethena assets held in Safe wallets.

• The partnership positions Safe as a preferred self custodial gateway for accessing Ethena products.

Other notable feature updates:

• Superlend launched V2.

• Jupiter launched JupUSD.

• Dango launched its Mainnet Alpha.

• Lighter started protocol fees and buybacks.

• Denaria launched as Linea’s first perpetual DEX.

• Jupiter Exchange CEO proposed ending $JUP buybacks.

QUICK BITES

• Bitpanda eyes IPO in first half of 2026.

• Polygon Labs spends $250M to acquire Coinme and Sequence.

• Ethena looks to boost USDe Safe holdings with gas-free ETH txs.

• Ukraine blocks Polymarket, classifies prediction markets as gambling.

• Russia finalizes bill to open up crypto market to non-qualified traders.

• Franklin Templeton updates pair of mm funds to be blockchain-ready.

• South Korean financial giant KB files patent for stablecoin credit card.

• Bitcoin ETFs post largest single-day inflows in three months, worth $750M.

• Crypto market structure bill text sets up showdown over stablecoin rewards.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

• a16z crypto’s read on why open networks win.

• Aditya Sharma’s read on how people actually get hired in crypto.

• Emperor Osmo’s read on the internet capital markets for insurance.

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.