$17 Million Financing! What Will Stablecoin Payment App Fin, Led by Pantera, Change?

The team behind Fin comes from the renowned fintech company Citadel, and they are targeting the inefficiencies and high costs that plague traditional cross-border payments.

The funding round is led by Pantera Capital, a top investment institution in the crypto asset sector, with traditional VC giant Sequoia and Samsung’s Samsung Next participating. This “crypto-native + top traditional” capital combination is itself a strong market signal.

01 Core Event: Why Fin Attracts Capital Favor

A heavyweight new player has entered the crypto payments sector. Founded by former Citadel employees, the stablecoin app Fin announced in early December 2025 that it had completed a $17 million funding round.

Leading the round is Pantera Capital, a pioneer and trendsetter in the field of crypto asset investment.

Pantera’s investment map extends beyond Fin; recently it also led funding for Raiku, an infrastructure project to improve Solana transaction predictability, and decentralized AI project Gradient Network—demonstrating a comprehensive layout in both underlying infrastructure and application innovation.

Fin’s business model is clearly focused on a specific, sizable market: large-value cross-border and domestic transfers, especially payment scenarios in import-export trade.

The app allows users to transfer funds to other Fin users, traditional bank accounts, or crypto wallets, promising faster speeds and significantly lower fees than traditional banking channels. The app has not officially launched yet and is planning a pilot among import-export businesses next month.

02 Product Analysis: How Fin Solves Payment Pain Points

Fin targets a market pain point that is both clear and persistent. Traditional cross-border wire transfers typically take 1–5 business days, involve intermediary bank fees, and have non-transparent exchange rate costs. For businesses engaged in import-export trade, capital efficiency directly impacts operating costs and competitiveness.

Fin’s solution is based on stablecoins. Stablecoins are pegged to fiat currencies like the US dollar, with transfers settled on the blockchain, theoretically allowing for minute-level settlement speeds and transparent, low-cost fees.

According to Gate Research Institute’s September 2025 Web3 Financing Panorama, blockchain services and CeFi are forming a “dual-core drive,” with payments and cross-border settlement among the hottest rising sectors. Fin’s model sits right at the intersection of these two tracks.

The app’s revenue model has two sources: transfer fees and interest income from stablecoin reserves. This indicates that Fin is not simply pursuing payment volume but aims to build a financial scenario that can pool funds and generate returns.

03 Market Trends: The Strong Comeback of Stablecoins and CeFi

Fin’s successful funding is not an isolated event, but a concentrated reflection of several trends in the 2025 crypto capital market.

According to a report by industry research firm RootData, in the first half of 2025, total primary market crypto fundraising reached $7.75 billion, with CeFi sector funding surging 479.7% year-on-year and regaining capital dominance.

The stablecoin market itself has also seen rapid expansion. From late October 2024 to the first half of 2025, the global stablecoin market cap quickly grew from about $160 billion to $240 billion.

This growth provides ample liquidity and market foundation for stablecoin-based financial applications. Capital is increasingly concentrating on CeFi projects with clear compliance paths and real yield potential—a clear trend.

Institutions like Pantera Capital investing in Fin can be seen as a strategic bet on the “compliant stablecoin payment” niche. Unlike pure trading platforms or lending protocols, it directly connects the crypto and traditional finance worlds’ payment rails, with compliance requirements and growth potential under close scrutiny.

04 Capital Logic: From Speculative Narratives to Value Building

The investment logic of the current crypto capital market is undergoing profound evolution. Gate Research Institute points out that the market is shifting from a “high-frequency, high-value speculation phase” to a “high-quality, stable growth phase.” Capital is increasingly focused on projects with clear business models and long-term ecosystem value.

In September 2025, the proportion of large funding rounds over $50 million increased, with capital accelerating toward leading and mature projects.

Projects like Fin, which can raise tens of millions of dollars at the seed or early rounds, usually need to demonstrate strong potential to solve real-world problems, an experienced team, and a scalable business model.

The lineup of Pantera Capital leading the round, and Sequoia and Samsung Next participating, gives Fin top-tier capital endorsement and potential ecosystem resources. Such endorsement is crucial in a project’s early stages, especially when building partnerships with traditional import-export businesses and dealing with complex compliance issues.

05 Gate Perspective: Ecosystem Development and User Opportunities

For Gate.io traders and ecosystem participants, following early-stage star projects like Fin has multiple meanings.

On one hand, it reveals the flow of capital market hotspots—namely, the explosive potential at the intersection of “blockchain + real-world payments.” This helps users understand market narratives and grasp broader industry trends.

On the other hand, Gate Research Institute’s ongoing tracking of Web3 funding dynamics shows the platform’s deep involvement at the industry forefront. This research capability helps Gate community users discover value earlier and understand the logic behind innovative projects.

The Gate platform itself also offers rich data and trading pairs for users to track the performance of assets related to payments, stablecoins, public chains, etc. Keeping up with frontline fundraising and in-depth research reports is a vital skill in the fast-changing crypto market.

Outlook

Currently, the Fin app has not officially launched and is planning to begin pilot testing among import-export businesses next month. Its official website is not fully public, and the team background and detailed technical architecture remain to be further disclosed.

As the pilot progresses, the market will test whether its claimed speed and cost advantages can withstand real-world business scenarios. Each step this startup takes in the future could subtly reshape the global landscape of stablecoin payments.