Cayman Islands, George Town, December 12, 2024, Chainwire
KAST, a fintech platform based on stablecoins to offer a neobank-style experience, has raised $10 million in seed funding. The round is led by HSG (HongShan Capital Group) and Peak XV Partners. Also joining the round were several high-profile angels, partners at DST Global and Goodwater Capital.
“For most countries and more than half of the world's GDP, banking does not match the openness and speed of the Internet, it is fundamentally failed. Stablecoins are the clear solution, but the user experience was not great. We are building KAST to change this,” adds Raagulan Pathy, co-founder of KAST. Pathy is a stablecoin expert, previously VP Asia Pacific and CEO Singapore at Circle, best known for USDC.
KAST offers payment cards and USD-denominated accounts to people in over 150 countries, the ability to receive and send cash, and work with partners like Bridge (recently acquired by Stripe). KAST will soon launch savings and other remittance products, all without the need to directly touch fiat money. The maturation of regulation and acceptance of stablecoins has led to rapid integration with traditional financial networks, allowing users to send money faster, cheaper and more securely. KAST highlighted use cases such as holding US dollar stablecoins as an alternative to volatile currencies, allowing people to purchase imports and travel with one card, and allowing remote workers around the world to get paid.
“The next generation of neobanks will be built on stablecoins and will be inherently global by DNA. They will fundamentally differ from the current generation of neobanks, which are limited in countries due to licensing and have difficulties integrating blockchain; their core systems and capabilities are too different,” says Daniel Bertoli, co-founder of KAST and former partner at Quona Capital, a global fintech fund that focuses on investments in neobanks.
KAST has completed a $10 million seed funding round at an undisclosed valuation. In its first four months, the company has demonstrated strong initial traction in terms of user adoption and revenue. The team sees this as a reflection of significant global interest in its platform.
Stablecoins have seen notable growth with over $170 billion in supply and $8.5 trillion in transaction volume in Q2 2024 by over 125 million users. Analysts predict that by 2030; The number of users will exceed one billion and the supply will exceed one trillion dollars.
“KAST offers real benefits to global users. Its dollar-denominated accounts provide a safe haven for hard-earned income when local currencies fall, especially for those without access to traditional accounts in the United States. As more digital nomads receive salaries in stablecoins, they can now avoid the hassle of legacy rails. International transfers that previously took weeks can now be completed instantly and at virtually no cost,” said Alex Svanevik (CEO/co-founder of Nansen.ai, an early investor in KAST).
Users can visit the KAST website to learn more about KAST and discover how its innovative offerings can transform the financial experience.
Testimonials from card users
“I spent two weeks at the bank trying to open a simple savings account. They asked for more than 10 documents (~100 papers) and had to sign and seal each one of them. And I opened a @KAST_official crypto card in literally 2 minutes. Why would anyone still look for traditional cards? If I don't need my bank statements for embassies, I would always use crypto cards like @KAST_official” – Mardeni (Twitter)
“One touch to solve all my problems. That was all I needed when I got my KAST card. Here's a quick summary: I've been traveling a lot lately and exchanging money has always been a pain. You usually end up losing 5% to 8% in the process when the cash is in your hand. A friend of mine sent me a link and said, “Try it!” Two months later, I've been tapping quite a bit. Thanks to @KAST_official… I've used it in five countries over the past few months without any problems. “It has made international spending and use of cryptocurrencies incredibly simple” – Alpha Bets (Twitter)
“I just used my @KAST_official card to pay for my project's domain name and it worked perfectly. All I had to do was fund it with USDC. This really is a game changer for me and anything else I want to do with it. ” – Álex (Twitter)
About KAST
KAST is transforming the fintech landscape by offering a seamless combination of stablecoin technology with traditional payment methods. The KAST platform enables USD accounts globally in more than 150 countries, reaching more than 5 billion people, offering a solution where banking falls short. The silky smooth user experience is incorporating the openness, speed and security of stablecoins; KAST allows users to send, receive, store and spend funds across borders efficiently. For more information, users can visit www.kast.xyz.
ContactVice President of Global PartnershipsBasKAST[email protected]
This article was originally published on Chainwire.
