Nium has acquired crypto-native wallet and issuing company Cypher to expand its cross-border payments infrastructure and strengthen its capabilities in digital assets. The acquisition enhances Nium's strategy of building compliant payment infrastructure that connects traditional financial systems with blockchain-based value exchange.
Nium has announced the acquisition of Cypher, a non-custodial crypto wallet and issuing platform, as part of its strategy to build infrastructure that supports both traditional and blockchain-based financial ecosystems.
The acquisition strengthens Nium's position as a payments infrastructure provider capable of enabling compliant money movement across fiat currencies, stablecoins, and digital assets.
As demand grows from Web3 companies, crypto exchanges, digital wallets, and fintech platforms, Nium aims to deliver integrated payment capabilities that simplify cross-border transactions and digital asset settlement.
"Money should move as fast as and with as much precision as data, regardless of origin or destination, be it human or machine, consumer or business, local or cross-border, wallet or bank account," said Prajit Nanu, CEO of Nium. "Today it doesn't. Payouts get stuck in the correspondent banking flows. Trillions sit idle in nostro accounts for days at a time. Agentic payments require the value exchange and trust layers that don't yet exist at the ecosystem level. We're building the critical infrastructure to drive this change, and the Cypher acquisition gives us the muscle to accelerate what we build."
The acquisition follows Nium's recent expansion into stablecoin-backed payment services, including card issuing and cross-border payment capabilities that support funding and settlement using stablecoins.
According to the company, these offerings have attracted growing demand from consumer-facing Web3 businesses as well as established fintech companies integrating digital asset functionality into their platforms.
With Cypher's technology and operational expertise, Nium expects to accelerate product development for crypto-native customers while expanding seamless connections between traditional banking infrastructure and blockchain networks.
Founded by Kuberan Marimuthu (Kube) and backed by Y Combinator and Coinbase Ventures, Cypher has focused on building products that connect blockchain ecosystems with traditional financial services.
As part of the acquisition, Marimuthu joins Nium as Vice President of Digital Assets, reporting directly to CEO Prajit Nanu. Cypher's engineering team has also joined the company.
Marimuthu previously held engineering leadership positions focused on payments and risk at Coinbase, Amazon, and Zenefits, bringing extensive experience in blockchain infrastructure and financial technology.
Nium says the acquisition supports its long-term vision of becoming the infrastructure layer for the evolving global payments ecosystem.
By combining digital asset capabilities with its compliance-first global payments platform, the company aims to provide secure, programmable infrastructure that enables organizations to move value seamlessly across fiat currencies, stablecoins, and blockchain networks.
The acquisition further expands Nium's ability to serve financial institutions, fintechs, and Web3 companies seeking scalable infrastructure for global money movement and digital asset transactions.
Nium is building the infrastructure to move money as freely as information. Its global, compliance-first platform gives banks, fintechs, and enterprises the rails to collect, convert, send, and spend funds across currencies, borders, and blockchains. Nium's cross-border payout network spans 100 currencies and 190+ countries, more than 100 of which settle in real time, with funds disbursed to bank accounts, wallets, and cards.
As a principal card issuer on Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and UATP, Nium issues over 41 million card tokens every year. It holds regulatory licenses and authorizations in more than 40 countries, enabling compliant onboarding and rapid integration regardless of geography. The company is co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore. For more information, visit www.nium.com.
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