Velocity raises 48M USD Series A extension with Visa, Circle and Ripple backing

Velocity extends Series A to 48 million USD with Visa, Circle and Ripple backing

Stablecoin payments infrastructure firm Velocity has raised another 10 million USD, taking its Series A to 48 million USD and valuing the London-based company at 200 million USD post-money. The extension, announced Tuesday, included participation from Visa Ventures, Circle Ventures, Ripple, Haun Ventures, Translink Capital and Mirana Ventures.

The financing follows an initial 38 million USD Series A disclosed on July 14, which was led by Dragonfly and FirstMark with backing from Activant Capital, Capital One Ventures, QED Investors, Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute Ventures and Ripple. The original round was oversubscribed, according to Chief Executive Eric Queathem, whose comments accompanied the funding disclosure.

Building stablecoin rails under existing systems

Velocity builds stablecoin infrastructure for settlement, liquidity and treasury operations without requiring companies to replace their existing business systems. Its platform connects stablecoins with banking rails, custody providers, liquidity management, compliance services and settlement tools, allowing customers to keep their current finance operations in place while adding on-chain money movement underneath.

The company, founded in 2025, targets issuers, acquirers, payment companies, banks and merchants that want stablecoin settlement without operating a separate crypto stack. Its product list includes payments, settlement, treasury automation, regulated wallets, FX connectivity and liquidity services, with the stated goal of reducing reliance on prefunded accounts and extending settlement beyond standard banking hours.

Queathem previously worked at Worldpay, where his experience centered on large payment networks and settlement systems. His thesis is that stablecoins will increasingly operate behind existing payment products rather than requiring businesses or consumers to change the interfaces they use. He said he believes that in five years every global business will hold value on-chain, with treasury reconciliation and liquidity infrastructure growing more important as corporate adoption develops, though he acknowledged this forecast remains a company view rather than a confirmed market outcome.

Visa’s investment follows operational collaboration

Visa’s participation in the round builds on existing operational work between the two companies. On September 9, MVB Financial and Velocity announced participation in a Visa Direct pilot that lets eligible participants use stablecoins for certain push-to-card funding and settlement obligations, with digital-asset conversion, wallet connectivity and on-chain controls handled through licensed partners.

Velocity said the MVB arrangement uses a single API and regulated wallet infrastructure, allowing stablecoins to be brought into payment flows without customers maintaining separate blockchain systems. Availability depends on eligibility and geography.

Rubail Birwadker, Visa’s global head of growth products and strategic partnerships, said stablecoins were playing an increasingly important role in the Visa ecosystem and described Velocity as infrastructure for stablecoin-powered money movement to every business.

The card network itself reported this month that more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs were live globally during its fiscal second quarter. Payment volume across those programs rose nearly 200 percent year over year, while stablecoin settlement volume passed a 20 billion USD annualized rate.

A crowded, well-funded sector

The extension reflects continued investor appetite for stablecoin payment infrastructure during 2026. In March, Singapore-based Tazapay took its Series B to 36 million USD with backing from Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Ripple, and Circle later agreed to acquire Tazapay outright in an all-stock deal worth roughly 400 million USD. Bank of America, JPMorgan and other incumbents have also expanded stablecoin settlement programs this year, while Visa and Mastercard have each rolled out stablecoin card initiatives across multiple markets.

For Ripple, the doubled-down investment in Velocity complements its RLUSD stablecoin push and its enterprise treasury business, which now serves more than a thousand corporate clients. Circle’s venture arm, meanwhile, continues to back infrastructure that could expand USDC distribution rails beyond crypto-native platforms.

What comes next

Velocity plans to use the new capital to develop infrastructure for issuers, acquirers, payment companies, banks and merchants, deepening the settlement, liquidity and treasury tooling it already offers. The company’s growth bets align with broader market signals: total stablecoin supply has climbed past 300 billion USD, and corporate treasury adoption has accelerated as regulated custody and compliance tooling mature.

The open question is differentiation in a sector where payments giants, banks and well-funded startups are all chasing the same stablecoin settlement opportunity. Velocity’s answer, embedding on-chain rails beneath existing systems rather than replacing them, is increasingly the consensus approach across the industry, which makes execution speed and distribution partnerships the likely deciding factors.

With Visa, Circle and Ripple now all on its cap table, Velocity has secured both capital and strategic alignment with three of the most important players in stablecoin payments. The 200 million USD valuation signals investor confidence that the behind-the-scenes infrastructure layer, not consumer-facing wallets, may capture the durable value in stablecoin commerce.