Back
Payward acquires Magic Labs wallet unit, extending 2026 crypto deal spree

Payward acquires Magic Labs wallet unit, extending 2026 crypto deal spree

Kraken’s parent company will add Magic Labs’ embedded non-custodial wallet business to Payward Services, while Magic Labs rebrands as Newton Labs to focus on Newton Protocol and pre-settlement policy checks.

ETH

Fact Check
The Block's primary reporting and Crypto Briefing, both dated July 27, 2026, independently confirm every element of the claim: Payward (Kraken's parent) acquiring Magic Labs' embedded wallet business in an asset sale, Magic Labs rebranding to Newton Labs, and the shift of focus to Newton Protocol. The BlockBeats flash corroborates the same details citing The Block. Background searches independently establish that Magic Labs developed Newton Protocol and pioneered an embedded wallet solution. Details are consistent across sources; only the wallet-count figure varies slightly (50M+ vs 60M+), which does not affect the core claim.
    Reference: 123
Summary

Payward, Kraken’s parent company, entered a definitive agreement on July 27 to acquire Magic Labs’ wallet-as-a-service business through an asset purchase, adding wallet infrastructure that has powered more than 60 million wallets and processed over $10 billion in stablecoin volume for more than 200,000 developers. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the transaction is expected to close within several weeks, subject to customary closing conditions. The deal covers Magic’s embedded, non-custodial wallet infrastructure rather than the whole company. Payward plans to integrate the technology into Payward Services, its infrastructure platform for banks, fintech companies, exchanges and onchain applications, adding a self-custody wallet layer to offerings that already include trading, custody, tokenised assets, derivatives and fiat-to-crypto payments. Newton Labs CEO Sean Li said existing wallet customers will begin receiving service from Payward on August 1 and that current integrations will continue without interruption. Magic Labs has rebranded as Newton Labs and will remain independent, focusing on Newton Protocol, which entered mainnet beta on June 23. The protocol is designed to check whether transactions meet predefined security, identity, compliance and risk rules before they settle onchain and then generate a cryptographic record of that decision. Its first product, VaultKit, supports Ethereum and Base and works with providers including RedStone, Credora, Webacy and Chainalysis Hexagate. The acquisition adds to Payward’s broader expansion beyond Kraken’s spot exchange business. The company completed its purchase of CFTC-regulated derivatives firm Bitnomial in May after announcing a deal worth up to $550 million, and also completed its acquisition of Hong Kong stablecoin payments company Reap in July. Payward previously bought retail futures platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion in 2025 and tokenised securities provider Backed Finance for an undisclosed amount.

Terms & Concepts
  • non-custodial wallet: A wallet setup in which users retain control of their assets and private keys instead of handing custody to a third party.
  • trusted execution environment: A secure area within a device or processor used to protect sensitive operations such as cryptographic signing.
  • mainnet beta: A live blockchain network launch phase where a product is operational but still being tested and refined.