Conduit raises $36M for stablecoin, fiat cross-border payment network

Conduit, a cross-border payments company based in Boston, has raised $36 million in a Series A funding round led by Dragonfly and Altos Ventures. The capital will go to scale its payment system and expand currency offerings across fiat and stablecoins.

Conduit markets its payment system as an alternative to the messaging network SWIFT, or Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. Banks have relied on the SWIFT protocol to process wire transfers since the 1970s.

Conduit claims its platform offers a modern alternative, enabling near real-time cross-border settlements by combining stablecoins with local fiat currencies through crypto infrastructure.

“Traditional cross-border payment systems do not meet the demands of modern businesses,” Kirill Gertman, Conduit CEO, said in a statement.

Additional participants in the funding round include Sound Ventures, Commerce Ventures, DCG, Circle Ventures, and two previous investors, Helios Digital Ventures and Portage Ventures. Conduit claims its clients have saved more than 60,000 hours in settlement times and over $55 million in fees since launching in 2021.

Related: UK FCA requests public comments on stablecoin, crypto custody regulation

Stablecoins are seeing increased adoption. According to DefiLlama data, the market capitalization of stablecoins reached $247 billion on May 28, a steep rise from $161 billion a year before. Over the past 12 months, the market cap has jumped 54%.

Investors continue to bet on stablecoin-focused startups. In April, stablecoin firm Cap raised $11 million in seed funding, while Plasma secured $24 million in February. Startup Cedar Money also closed a $9.9 million round in January to support its stablecoin payments platform.

Circle, the issuer of USDC and one of Conduit’s backers, is preparing for a public debut. The company is aiming to raise $624 million through an initial public offering, targeting a valuation of $6.71 billion, according to its IPO filings.

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