Paxos has acquired institutional wallet provider Fordefi in a bid to strengthen its regulated custody stack as demand from financial institutions grows. The deal, announced Tuesday, was not formally disclosed, but a Paxos spokesperson said it exceeded $100 million, a figure also reported by Fortune.
Paxos Buys Fordefi to Expand Institutional Custody
Paxos, the New York–based blockchain infrastructure firm behind PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin and a limited purpose trust regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services, said the acquisition will deepen its custody capabilities for enterprise and institutional clients.
Fordefi, a New York–based startup, provides institutional-grade custody and wallet technology. Its platform features multi-party computation (MPC) wallets, granular policy controls, and integrations with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Paxos said combining its qualified custody and regulated infrastructure with Fordefi’s MPC architecture and policy engine will deliver secure, modular solutions for institutions operating on-chain.
What Fordefi Brings: MPC Wallets and Institutional Controls
- MPC wallet architecture: Splits key management across multiple parties to reduce single points of failure and mitigate operational risk.
- Policy and approvals engine: Enables enterprises to set transaction rules, workflows, and role-based controls for on-chain operations.
- DeFi integrations: Connects custody workflows to DeFi venues and applications while preserving institutional compliance requirements.
Paxos has long provided custodial infrastructure and tokenization services to financial institutions entering digital assets. The company said the Fordefi acquisition aligns with accelerating market adoption, where clients increasingly require configurable, secure wallets tied to regulated custody.
Stablecoin Push: USDG0 Launch Targets Cross-Chain DeFi
Alongside the deal, Paxos Labs announced USDG0, an omnichain version of its USDG stablecoin designed for DeFi environments. USDG0 uses LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard to move dollar-backed liquidity across multiple blockchains while maintaining compliance safeguards.
The rollout will begin on Hyperliquid, followed by Plume and Aptos. USDG is already live on Solana; USDG0 is intended to extend regulated stability to new networks and allow ecosystem partners to share in stablecoin-driven economic activity.
Why It Matters
The acquisition underscores a broader institutional shift toward on-chain finance, where regulated custody, secure wallet infrastructure, and compliant stablecoins are converging. By pairing qualified custody with MPC wallets and expanding its stablecoin framework across chains, Paxos aims to provide end-to-end infrastructure that meets institutional standards while tapping DeFi liquidity.
Terms of the Fordefi deal remain undisclosed beyond confirmation that the price was above $100 million.