Indian and Chinese investment firms Peak Co-led a $10 million seed investment in KAST. .
Kast also issues credit cards that work with standard merchant networks, allowing users to spend their stablecoin holdings at merchants that don’t support cryptocurrency trading.
The startup is targeting emerging markets where access to USD is limited and remittance costs are high. KAST does not operate in India or China due to regulatory constraints, but serves a large international workforce in these markets.
Co-founder Raagulan Pathy, who previously ran Circle’s Asia Pacific business, told TechCrunch that many countries’ banking infrastructure was severely lacking in cross-border capabilities. The platform aims to reduce friction in international payments by bypassing traditional banking networks.
The launch of KAST comes as stablecoin adoption continues to grow rapidly. More than 20 million people use stablecoins globally every month, most of them concentrated in emerging markets. Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure provider Bridge last October is a sign of growing mainstream corporate interest in the technology.
The startup faces competition from both cryptocurrency-based companies and traditional fintech companies expanding into stablecoins. PayPal launched its own dollar-pegged token, while Revolut and Ripple announced plans to issue stablecoins. This sector is also highly concentrated, with Tether controlling around three-quarters of the supply.
Daniel Bertoli, another co-founder of KAST and former partner at Quona Capital, argues that existing neobanks struggle with blockchain integration because their core systems are not designed for cryptocurrencies. “The next generation of digital banks will be global in nature and built on stablecoins from the ground up,” he said.
Partners at DST Global and Goodwater Capital also invested in the round. KAST did not disclose user numbers or valuation, but said growth in its first four months of operation had exceeded expectations.
The startup plans to launch savings products and expand remittance services while focusing on stablecoin-based infrastructure.
Because KAST operates solely on stablecoins, it offers customers “a safe haven for their hard-earned income when their local currency falls,” said Alex Svanevik, co-founder and CEO of analytics platform Nansen.ai and an early backer of KAST. . .
“As more digital nomads get paid in stablecoins, they can now avoid the hassle of traditional rail. International transfers that once took weeks can now be completed instantly and at virtually no cost,” he said in a statement.
For Peak XV and HongShan, this is their first joint transaction since their separation from Sequoia in June 2023. Both companies increasingly operate across traditional geographic boundaries. HongShan has expanded into Europe and North Asia as it works to deploy a $9 billion asset pool. Peak XV has established a presence in the US and has invested in Australia for the first time.
Their former parent company, Sequoia, is in deliberations to support fintech Vance, TechCrunch reported late last month. If the deal goes through, it will be the company’s first investment in India since the spin-off.
