Metal raises seed round co-led by Airwallex to build tokenised settlement network

What's the deal? MetalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a settlement network and Layer-1 blockchain for tokenised financial products, has closed a seed round co-led by Airwallex and Capital49Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the venture fund created by Airwallex's founders. The round was announced in June 2026; the amount was not disclosed.

Who's behind it? Metal was co-founded by Loong Wang, formerly of cross-chain protocol Ren Protocol, and Catherine Porter, previously partnerships lead on Meta's Libra project. The company is based in Singapore.

What's the endgame? Metal is building institutional-grade infrastructure for tokenised financial products, with programmable compliance and privacy tools built into the chain. Its platform is designed to support AI agents, identity verification, and global on- and off-ramp channels across 200 countries and 90 currencies, enabling tokenised settlement of assets such as stocks, bonds and funds.

Why Airwallex? Beyond co-leading the round, the payments company joins as Metal's first design partner, giving the startup an early institutional user to shape the product and a route to bring tokenised financial products into its own network.

The signal: Metal's raise reflects continued investor interest in the infrastructure layer for tokenised finance, where startups are racing to connect traditional payments rails with on-chain settlement.

Read more: Phemex