Payward Confirms Magic Labs Acquisition, Not Magic Eden

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The Magic Labs acquisition is an asset sale. Payward gains the unit that provisions non-custodial wallets for apps. Meanwhile, Magic Labs keeps its independence and rebrands to Newton Labs.

What Payward Is Actually Buying

The target is the Magic Labs wallet-as-a-service unit. Developers use it to embed wallets directly inside their apps. Users then sign in with email, social logins, or passkeys, and skip seed phrases entirely.

Magic Labs has powered more than 60 million embedded wallets since 2018. It has also processed over $10 billion in stablecoin volume. Roughly 200,000 developers and 18,000 apps rely on the platform, according to the official Payward announcement.

The technology supports more than 30 chains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Base. Sharding splits each private key, and secure enclaves sign transactions. As a result, the provider never holds a user’s full key.

Speed also matters for these wallets. Magic Labs reports signing latency near 50 to 100 milliseconds. That pace keeps onboarding smooth for large consumer apps.

How Embedded Wallets Work

Embedded wallets remove the hardest part of onboarding. Traditional self-custody asks users to save a seed phrase. Many people lose that phrase, and then they lose their funds.

Wallet-as-a-service hides that complexity behind a familiar login. The app calls an API, and a wallet appears in seconds. Still, the user keeps control, because the keys never sit with one party.

This model now underpins consumer apps, trading tools, and payment products. Polymarket and WalletConnect have used Magic Labs for exactly this reason. So the deal hands Payward a proven onboarding layer.

Magic Labs, Not Magic Eden

This distinction matters because a viral post caused confusion. A SolanaFloor tweet tagged Magic Eden by mistake. Magic Eden is a separate multichain NFT marketplace with its own consumer wallet.

Magic Labs and Magic Eden share nothing beyond a similar name. This deal does not affect the Magic Eden Wallet. Every primary source, including Payward and Magic Labs, confirms the target is Magic Labs.

Why Kraken’s Parent Wants Embedded Wallets

“Embedded wallets are becoming foundational infrastructure for every onchain product,” said Mark Greenberg, Chief Commercial Officer of Payward. He said the technology lets Payward offer exchange, custody, and now wallets from one integrated stack.

Payward is more than Kraken. It also runs NinjaTrader, xStocks, Breakout, and CF Benchmarks. Each acquisition adds another layer to its onchain and trading stack.

The Magic Labs acquisition also fits a clear pattern. Payward has been buying aggressively ahead of a planned public listing. Recent deals include NinjaTrader for about $1.5 billion in 2025, Bitnomial for up to $550 million, and Reap Technologies for up to $600 million.

Payward filed a confidential S-1 in November 2025. Reports peg its target valuation near $20 billion. Now embedded wallets round out its business-to-business menu.

Magic Labs Becomes Newton Labs

“This transition allows us to put our full energy behind Newton,” said Sean Li, CEO of Newton Labs, formerly Magic Labs. He framed the sale as a way to focus the team on one mission.

Magic Labs launched in 2018 and helped create the passwordless wallet category. It raised about $83 million across several rounds. Backers include PayPal Ventures, DCG, CoinFund, and Lightspeed.

Newton is an authorization layer for onchain finance. It runs compliance, security, and risk checks before settlement. Its mainnet beta launched in June 2026, alongside a product called VaultKit.

Li called the deal an asset sale in a longer statement on X. He stressed that both firms stay separate and independent. From August 1, Payward Services will handle wallet customers.

What Happens to Wallet Customers

Customers do not need to act. Their wallets move to Payward Services automatically. According to the companies, the service transition begins around August 1, 2026.

The transition should stay invisible to end users. Apps that rely on Magic wallets keep running as normal. So most users will never notice the change.

The price stays undisclosed. Neither side released cash, stock, or equity figures. Both companies expect the deal to close in the coming weeks, subject to customary conditions.

Neither party confirmed whether any staff will transfer. That detail remains unknown for now, as reported by The Block.

How Magic Labs Compares With Other Embedded Wallet Providers

What the Magic Labs Acquisition Signals Next

The Magic Labs acquisition pushes the wallet-as-a-service market toward consolidation. The sector had already grown crowded. Privy now sits inside Stripe, and Dynamic joined Fireblocks.

Rivals such as Privy, Turnkey, and Coinbase now face a larger competitor. Payward can bundle wallets with trading and custody under one roof. So it gains an edge with business clients.

Analysts also see pre-IPO logic at work. A fuller product suite can strengthen Payward’s pitch to investors. In that sense, wallets are both a product and a signal.

For developers, the near-term question is service continuity under new ownership. For the wider market, the deal shows how exchanges race to own the full onchain stack. The coming weeks should reveal the final terms.