Crypto wallet provider Exodus is tapping its Bitcoin reserves to finance a major expansion into on-chain payments, announcing a $175 million deal to acquire W3C Corp, the parent company of payment infrastructure firms Monavate and Baanx.
The move, unveiled Monday, represents a significant strategic shift for the NYSE-listed company. By bringing Monavate and Baanx under its umbrella, Exodus aims to become one of the few self-custodial wallets that controls the full payments stack — from crypto storage to card issuance.
“By bringing card and payments infrastructure in-house, we are closing the gap between holding and spending, and positioning Exodus as the only platform you need for your money,” CEO JP Richardson said.
Exodus plans to integrate issuing, processing and compliance capabilities directly into its consumer and enterprise products, reducing dependence on third-party providers and enabling support for a wider range of assets, including leading payment stablecoins. The company also expects to gain the ability to issue cards through Visa, Mastercard and Discover.
Exodus taps Bitcoin holdings to fund the deal
To finance the $175 million acquisition, Exodus will use existing cash and draw from its credit facility with Galaxy Digital — a loan backed by the company’s Bitcoin reserves. As part of the arrangement, Exodus has already lent $58.8 million to W3C to support its purchases of Monavate and Baanx, and may provide an additional $10 million in working capital. The deal is expected to close in 2026.
“The economics from interchange, processing, and program fees are expected to become a foundational part of our payments and transaction services business,” said James Gernetzke, Exodus’ chief financial officer.
Under the agreement, XO Swap — Exodus’s on-chain exchange aggregator — will gain access to Monavate and Baanx’s programmable payout tools and turnkey card-issuance infrastructure. The announcement follows Exodus’s recent acquisition of Grateful, a Latin American stablecoin payments startup.
Cointelegraph reached out to Exodus for comment but had not received a response by publication.
Crypto payment rails accelerate
Exodus’s bid for W3C comes as major payment networks deepen their involvement with stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement.
In September, Visa began piloting a system that allows banks and financial institutions to pre-fund cross-border transfers using USDC and EURC, aiming to speed up international payments.
This followed Swift’s announcement that it is partnering with Consensys and more than 30 financial institutions to develop a blockchain-based settlement platform designed to support 24/7 real-time cross-border transactions.
