OMAHA, NE – May 2025 – Exodus Movement, the self-custodial wallet provider, has closed acquisitions of regulated payment firms Monavate and Baanx, moving to own its own card-issuing and processing rails. The move follows a turbulent NYSE listing that was derailed by regulators in 2024 before finally succeeding under a new administration.

Acquisition Details

The UK-based acquisitions give Exodus direct control over BIN sponsorship, Visa and MasterCard membership, and fraud detection systems. These rails already power crypto cards for Ledger and MetaMask. Exodus CEO JP Richardson said the company is shifting from “renting the rails to owning them.”

“Owning the rails means we can build a single app that holds digital assets, connects to card networks, and routes payments—all while keeping users in self-custody,” Richardson told the audience at the company’s recent summit.

Background: The NYSE Gut Punch

Richardson opened his keynote by recalling how Exodus flew 130 employees, friends, and family to New York in May 2024 for a NYSE listing ceremony—only to learn the night before that regulators had pulled the listing due to a last-minute rule change. “It was the 11th hour, and we followed the playbook,” he said. “A room full of supporters was stunned.”

The reversal forced Exodus back into private status. But after the U.S. election, the company finally listed on NYSE American in January 2025 under a more crypto-friendly administration—with the same team, ticker, and business model.

Richardson framed the episode as proof that Exodus can absorb political shocks while staying true to its core principle: “Money belongs under user control.”

The 'One App for Money' Vision

Exodus, founded in 2015 in Omaha, built a self-custodial wallet that stores keys on user devices and routes swaps across liquidity providers—without ever holding customer funds. But Richardson argued that crypto still fails on basic usability.

He recalled helping a friend download four wallets and write a 12-word seed phrase on a cocktail napkin. “If a friend in a bar can’t safely set up a wallet without resorting to napkins, the industry has missed the mark,” he said, calling this the “pub test.”

Richardson extended the critique to “chain tribalism,” insisting consumers don’t care whether payments settle on Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, or Base—as long as the experience works. He asked the audience to count how many apps they use for money: bank app, P2P payment apps, brokerage, crypto wallet. “That fragmentation is a structural problem,” he said. “Providers don’t share your interests.”

Exodus aims to replace that cluster with a single self-custody app that also connects to traditional card networks. The Monavate and Baanx acquisitions make that possible.

What This Means

By owning payment infrastructure, Exodus can offer debit cards, direct deposits, and bill pay—all without holding user funds. This lets users spend crypto or stablecoins in everyday transactions while maintaining full control of their private keys. Industry watchers say this could accelerate mainstream adoption of self-custody, which has been a barrier for non-technical users.

The move also positions Exodus as a competitor to fintech apps like Cash App and Revolut, but with a crypto-native, self-custody foundation. Richardson said the company is “building the one app for money that puts users first.”

With the NYSE listing secured and payment rails in hand, Exodus is now taking its bet to the market. Whether consumers will trust a single app for all their financial needs—without a bank holding their money—remains to be seen.