Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, said on July 27 that it is acquiring the embedded wallet business of Magic Labs through an asset purchase. After the deal closes, the two companies will continue operating independently, while Magic Labs’ wallet customers will be migrated to Payward Services. Magic Labs will also adopt a new name, Newton Labs.
Founded in 2018, Magic Labs said it has created more than 60 million wallets and provided embedded wallet services to more than 200,000 developers. Following the divestiture, Newton Labs will focus on building Newton Protocol, an on-chain financial authorization layer protocol. The company said the protocol’s mainnet beta went live in June 2026 and is designed to carry out compliance, security, identity verification and risk control before transactions are posted on-chain.
Newton Labs added that VaultKit, its first product based on Newton Protocol, is aimed at helping institutional-grade custody solutions perform compliance and risk management before trade settlement. It said the product roadmap will later extend to real-world assets, stablecoins, and commercial and financial use cases involving AI agents. The acquisition also adds to Payward’s broader push in financial infrastructure, following its previously disclosed deals for Bitnomial, Reap Technologies and NinjaTrader.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, announced on July 27 that it is acquiring the embedded wallet business of Magic Labs.
The transaction is structured as an asset purchase. Once completed, the two companies will continue to operate independently, Magic Labs’ wallet customers will move to Payward Services, and Magic Labs will formally rebrand as Newton Labs.
Magic Labs, founded in 2018, said it has created more than 60 million wallets and provided embedded wallet services to more than 200,000 developers.
Newton Labs shifts its focus to an on-chain financial protocol
After the business separation, Newton Labs will concentrate on developing Newton Protocol, an on-chain financial authorization layer protocol. The company said the protocol launched its mainnet beta in June 2026 and is intended to handle compliance, security, identity verification and risk control before transactions are recorded on-chain.
Newton Labs said VaultKit, the first product built on Newton Protocol, can help institutional-grade custody solutions carry out compliance checks and risk management before trade settlement. The company added that it plans to expand into real-world assets, stablecoins, and commercial and financial scenarios involving AI agents.
Latest move in Payward’s financial infrastructure expansion
The acquisition is the latest step in Payward’s ongoing expansion across financial infrastructure.
Earlier, Payward completed its acquisition of U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-licensed derivatives exchange Bitnomial in May this year in a deal valued at up to $550 million. It also reached an agreement to acquire Hong Kong stablecoin payments company Reap Technologies for $600 million. In 2025, Payward also acquired retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion.
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