Entrepreneurs embracing the digital assets are pushing payments modernization forward, and bringing incumbents along too.

Fintech entrepreneurs are using stablecoins as a means of breaking into the payments industry and driving digital modernization.

Startups such as MassPay and Rain Financial have been forging new pathways for payments that embrace stablecoins, either incorporating or bypassing aging rails. They see an expansive opportunity ahead as they begin to make inroads.

While traditional payments players, including card network giant Visa and mega processor Fiserv, have also glommed on to the stablecoin trend, their legacy infrastructures may increase the difficulty of adapting to digital schemes.

Meanwhile, younger companies are amassing capital from venture investors and hiring employees to build stablecoin networks and accessories. The appeal for investors has been a simple one, according to Verda Ventures General Partner Alex Witt.

“The basic premise behind our fund is: sending payments should be as easy, fast, and cheap as sending a text message,” Witt said in an interview this month. “We fundamentally believe with blockchain, mobile phones, and the internet, that is completely possible.”

Witt and his business partner, Amit Chu, created a venture fund two years ago to invest in stablecoin startups and it has since drawn $40 million, he said, allowing the fund to purchase minority stakes in about two dozen companies globally.

It’s a real change from when Witt first started to raise money for the fund in 2024 and people thought he was “completely crazy,” he said.

The Verda portfolio includes the fintech Yellow Card focused on payments in Africa as well as the blockchain infrastructure services company Capa, which operates in Latin America.

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