Singapore’s Temasek-backed cross-border payments company Nium has acquired crypto infrastructure startup Cypher, according to its announcement on Thursday.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The deal strengthens Nium’s push into digital asset infrastructure following the rollout of its stablecoin-backed card issuing product and support for funding and settlement using stablecoins.
The company said it has seen increasing demand from crypto-native businesses, including digital wallets and exchanges, as well as fintech firms integrating digital asset services into their platforms.
Cypher develops non-custodial crypto wallet and card issuing technology designed to connect blockchain-based assets with traditional financial systems. Based in San Francisco and founded four years ago by Kuberan Marimuthu, the startup is backed by Y Combinator and Coinbase Ventures.
As part of the deal, Marimuthu, who previously held engineering leadership roles at Coinbase, Amazon and Zenefits, has joined Nium as vice president of digital assets, reporting to chief executive Prajit Nanu. Cypher’s engineering team has also joined the company.
Nium said the acquisition gives it additional engineering capabilities to develop products for crypto-native customers while extending the security and compliance standards of its existing payments infrastructure to on-chain transactions.
“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,” Nanu said. “We’re building the critical infrastructure to drive this change, and the Cypher acquisition gives us the muscle to accelerate what we build.”
The company said it aims to position itself as an infrastructure provider that enables the movement of value across both fiat and digital currencies, supporting multiple payment networks and blockchain ecosystems.
Co-headquartered in Singapore and San Francisco, Nium operates a cross-border payments network spanning more than 190 countries and supports transactions in 100 currencies, with real-time settlement available in over 100 markets.
It also issues payment cards through Visa, Mastercard, Discover and UATP, generating more than 41 million card tokens annually, and holds regulatory licences in more than 40 countries.
The acquisition comes as Nium accelerates its push into stablecoin-powered payments. As reported by DealStreetAsia last month, the Temasek-backed fintech is expanding stablecoin settlement capabilities across Southeast Asia, betting that demand from financial institutions and fintechs will grow as businesses look for faster and lower-cost cross-border payment rails.
The company has also rolled out stablecoin-backed card issuance, partnered with Circle to integrate USDC settlements into its global payouts network, and joined Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot.
According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, stablecoins have emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments of the digital asset market, with global market capitalisation surpassing $300 billion this year. The firm estimates stablecoins processed $28 trillion in real economic transaction volume in 2025.
