Stablecoin payments startup KAST raises $80M at $600M valuation
What's the deal? Singapore-based stablecoin payments firm KAST has raised $80 million in a round co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, valuing it at $600 million.
The company, which launched in July 2024, lets users store, earn, and spend stablecoins — dollar-pegged digital assets — and expects its annual revenue run rate to hit $100 million this year.
KAST is led by Raagulan PathyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a former Asia Pacific vice president at Circle Internet GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, issuer of the world's second-largest stablecoin.
Why now? The terms were agreed in October 2025, but the deal's public timing lands as stablecoin venture funding heats up sharply. In March 2026, Latin American rival ARQ raised $70 million from Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund; in December 2024, RedotPay closed a $107 million round led by Goodwater Capital. All three target stablecoin payments.
The macro backdrop is supportive: stablecoin transaction volumes rose 72% to an all-time high of $33 trillion in 2025, driven by regulatory tailwinds in the US and growing institutional interest.
What could go wrong? KAST is barely 18 months old and is racing to expand across North America, Latin America, and the Middle East simultaneously — an expensive, complex bet for an early-stage company. A $600 million valuation on a sub-$100 million revenue run rate leaves little room for execution stumbles.
Stablecoins also remain a regulatory work in progress in many markets, and a policy shift — particularly in the US — could quickly reshape the competitive landscape.
The signal: Stablecoin payments are emerging as one of the clearest venture bets in crypto, bridging digital assets and everyday finance. The flurry of large rounds — KAST, ARQ, RedotPay — suggests investors are no longer treating this as a speculative niche but as a category ready to scale.
The race is now on to capture emerging markets where dollar-pegged accounts fill a genuine gap left by traditional banking.
Sources:
Bloomberg
Finextra
Kucoin
Image credit:
KAST
J.V.
