Though crypto is experiencing a boom right now it is still in its infancy. The industry struggles to get access to mainstream banking services. Crypto companies often get turned away by big banks, who just don’t understand them, and vice versa. Crypto doesn’t have a voice in banking and banks do not understand how to adapt their processes to confidently serve crypto platforms. It results in missed opportunities for banks to capture those clean crypto fiat flows and for crypto platforms that have to pay hefty risk premiums to their banking providers.
This is where UK-based Fiat Republic, a web3 enabler assisting crypto platforms comes into the picture. It is gathering a consortium of crypto platforms to gain strong representation with regulators to lead the setting of standards for the asset class and change its perception among traditional financial institutions.
Raises $7M seed round
Now, the London-based Banking-as-a-Service platform has secured $7 million in a seed extension round. The round saw first-time investments from Kraken Ventures (backed Shield and Rally), Fabric Ventures, Arca, Inovo.vc, and Pretiosum Ventures as well as existing investors Speedinvest, Credo Ventures, and Seedcamp.
The capital will fuel its growth and expansion, and key initiatives including strategic hires, strengthening banking partnerships, as well as expanding to new territories. Also, it will improve the accessibility of banking and payment services for cryptocurrency platforms. This follows the $2.5 million funding that it raised last year.
Aligns traditional finance with crypto providers
Founded by experts in fintech and banking – Adam Bialy, Martyna Lewinska, and Sophie Guibaud in 2021, Fiat Republic aims to change the way people talk about and understand cryptocurrencies, especially in the traditional financial world. It plans to bring together different crypto platforms to work together and build a positive relationship with traditional banks and regulators.
The platform offers a single way for crypto platforms to connect with banks, making it easy for them to follow certain regulations in one place. This setup is a combination of traditional finance (tradFi) security and automatic handling of regular money transactions through integrated banking services.
It has been granted a full electronic money institution (EMI) licence by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), enabling it to provide regulated financial services across the European Economic Area. This comes in addition to their established EMI licence in the UK where they have been operational for over a year.
With this Dutch licence, the Fiat Republic platform can provide payment services and issue e-money to EEA crypto platforms, via its purpose-built, developer-friendly API.
Adam Bialy, CEO and co-founder of Fiat Republic, added: “This investment shows the confidence our investors have in Fiat Republic’s vision and the future trajectory of the company as a market leader in the web 2.5 space. With our newly acquired Dutch EMI licence, Fiat Republic will now operate across the entire European Union directly, providing e-money and payment services. Passporting from the reputable and credible jurisdiction of the Netherlands not only boosts our legitimacy in the traditional finance world, but also highlights our commitment to high compliance standards, security, and close collaboration with regulators. This move, to me, also signals that the Netherlands is open for business ahead of the upcoming MiCA regulation.”
Commenting on the raise, Michal Benedykcinski, SVP at Arca, said: “Arca is enthusiastic to back Fiat Republic on its mission to bridge the gap between traditional banking and the rapidly growing financial needs of web3 projects. Our investment in Fiat Republic represents a deep belief in making compliant industry standards for individual transactions easy to follow by all market participants, whether you are a crypto platform, bank, or regulator.”
Anil Hansjee, General Partner at Fabric Ventures, added: “We are delighted to be part of Fiat Republic’s journey in revolutionising the Banking-as-a-Service landscape. Their innovative and regulation-first approach in bridging the worlds of traditional banking and web3 is not only timely but crucial for the evolution of financial services. This investment is a testament to our belief in Fiat Republic’s vision and the potential of their platform to redefine the banking experience for crypto platforms across Europe.”
