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.
visa, circle and ripple all in one cap table for stablecoin settlement rails. the payments giants are done watching from the sidelines
A 200 million valuation for settlement plumbing sounds rich until you remember what the incumbents are worth. The rails always win.
10M extension on top of the 38M from july, 200M valuation. visa ventures AND circle ventures in the same cap table says payments rails is the real race now
London based, 48M total, backed by ripple and wintermute too. Queathem oversubscribing the first round was the signal here.
visa ventures and circle ventures in the same round is visa hedging both sides, card rails and stablecoin rails. they refuse to pick a horse
hedging both rails is the only sane visa move. if stablecoin settlement eats card volume they would rather own the replacement than fight it
Hedging both rails also means Visa never has to admit which one wins. Whatever ends up killing card volume, they already own a piece of it.
cap table tells the story, visa circle and ripple usually bid against each other. all three in one settlement round means the nostro float market is bigger than the press thinks
visa circle and ripple in one round is the signal, those three usually bid against each other on settlement rails. all three piling into the same 10M extension means the nostro market is real
stablecoin infra raises keep stacking up while exchanges die. coinex shutting same day as this news is kinda poetic
the prefunded accounts angle is the real story imo. queathem sat inside worldpay watching billions locked in nostro float, of course hes the one selling banks on unlocking it
This. The pitch writes itself, every CFO hates locked nostro float. Banks will pay for anything that frees working capital.
the sept 9 visa direct pilot with mvb financial is the proof point people are skipping. they are already moving live transactions, not just raising on slides
mvb financial pilot moving live visa direct transactions is the part people skip while arguing about valuation. slide decks do not clear settlement windows, that pilot does
pilot clearing live visa direct transactions in sept and then a 10M extension weeks later, thats the right order of operations. evidence first, valuation talk second
worldpay alumni selling banks on freeing nostro float is a credible pitch. the man watched that money sit still for years
^ the prefunded accounts angle again. every treasurer who watched money sit in nostro limbo for 30 days gets this pitch instantly
200M post money for settlement plumbing sounds rich until you remember what the incumbent rails are worth. the boring layer compounds quietly
Agreed on the boring layer point. Visa funding settlement plumbing the same quarter its card volume gets threatened by stablecoins, that is the tell.
200M for plumbing sounds rich until you size the nostro float parked at global banks. trillions sitting still, freeing even a small slice is a monster market
trillions parked is also why the banks will fight the migration tooth and nail. That float is revenue for whoever holds it, they will drag this out for years.
queathem oversubscribing the july round and then visa extending again within two months, that sequence only happens when the mvb pilot numbers are actually landing. nobody re-ups that fast on vibes
mirana and translink piling in too, this went from a 38M round to everyone wanting a piece in two months. someone at visa clearly liked the mvb pilot numbers
founded 2025, series A in july, extension by september. that cap table speed plus queathem claiming every global business holds value onchain within 5 years is bold, but visa and circle are hedging like they believe it
Founded in 2025 and already on a second round, that part worries me more than the 200M valuation. But live settlement beats slide decks, Queathem gets some patience from me for the MVB pilot alone.
dragonfly and firstmark led the july round, then visa, circle and ripple forced their way into the extension. strategic money chasing the financial vcs within two months is my favorite kind of signal