Latitude Secures $35 Million Series A to Connect Stablecoins With Local Payment Networks
Latitude, a global payments infrastructure company focused on simplifying cross-border money movement, has raised $35 million in a Series A funding round as it works to expand the infrastructure connecting stablecoins with local currencies and payment networks around the world.
The financing was led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from NEA, Coinbase Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, OpenFX and Wilson Sonsini. The new investment follows Latitude’s $8 million seed round earlier this year and brings the company’s total funding raised to $43 million.
Latitude is positioning the new capital toward a major challenge in the rapidly developing digital payments market: making stablecoins easier to move into and out of local financial systems. While stablecoins can enable rapid transfers across borders, businesses and consumers still often face significant challenges when converting digital assets into the local currencies and payment methods they use in everyday transactions.
The company aims to address that gap by providing businesses with a single infrastructure layer for moving between stablecoins and local currencies across multiple markets.
Stablecoin Transfers Are Only Part of the Payments Challenge
Stablecoins have emerged as an increasingly important component of the global payments ecosystem because they can enable fast transfers without relying exclusively on traditional cross-border banking infrastructure.
However, sending a stablecoin from one wallet to another represents only one part of the payment process. For businesses and consumers, the practical challenge often comes when funds need to enter or leave the stablecoin ecosystem.
A person receiving a stablecoin payment may ultimately need to convert those funds into the currency they use to pay rent, purchase goods or cover everyday expenses. Similarly, a business operating internationally may need to convert stablecoins into local currency before paying employees, contractors, suppliers or other counterparties.
These processes are commonly known as on- and off-ramps. According to Latitude, the availability and quality of these services vary significantly from one country to another.
In markets where local payment infrastructure is highly developed, consumers may expect money to arrive through familiar systems almost immediately. Examples include Pix in Brazil, UPI in India and mobile money networks in Kenya. Yet businesses seeking to offer stablecoin-based payment services across multiple countries may have to establish separate banking, regulatory and payment relationships in each market.
Latitude is attempting to simplify this process through a unified infrastructure model.
One Infrastructure Layer for Multiple Markets
Latitude provides businesses with a way to connect stablecoins to local currencies and payment rails across the markets where they operate. Rather than requiring companies to build individual on- and off-ramp systems for every country, Latitude provides access through a single API.
The model is designed to help businesses expand into new markets more efficiently. A neobank, fintech company or payments provider looking to enter another country can potentially use Latitude’s infrastructure rather than building an entirely new local payments operation from the ground up.
The company also takes responsibility for regulatory and compliance requirements associated with its infrastructure. Latitude says it owns the licenses required for its operations and manages the regulatory work necessary to support its customers.
For companies developing financial products, this approach can potentially reduce the operational complexity associated with international expansion.
Making Stablecoins Easier for Everyday Users
Latitude’s strategy is based on the view that consumers should not need to understand the technical details of stablecoins to benefit from faster digital payments.
Cyril Mathew, co-founder and CEO of Latitude, said the company wants international money movement to become as straightforward as sending a message.
The company’s objective is to make the underlying stablecoin infrastructure largely invisible to the end user. Instead of requiring individuals to understand wallets, digital assets or blockchain networks, the payment experience can focus on the local currency and payment method familiar to the recipient.
For example, a contractor in São Paulo or Lagos could receive a payment originating from another country and ultimately receive funds in the local currency. The underlying transaction infrastructure can rely on stablecoins while the recipient interacts primarily with the local financial system.
This model could be particularly relevant for businesses that employ contractors, freelancers and distributed teams across multiple countries.
A Focus on Local Payment Rails
One of Latitude’s primary differentiators is its focus on connecting stablecoins directly to local payment systems.
Local payment rails are essential to making cross-border transactions practical because consumers and businesses generally want funds to arrive through systems they already use.
In Brazil, for example, Pix has become an important component of the country’s digital payments environment. In India, UPI supports a broad range of real-time digital transactions. In Kenya and other African markets, mobile money networks play an important role in financial transactions.
Connecting stablecoins to these types of systems can allow businesses to use digital assets for the cross-border portion of a transaction while still delivering funds through familiar local channels.
Latitude describes this approach as providing a regulated layer between global stablecoin technology and local financial infrastructure.
Licensed Infrastructure for Businesses
Regulatory compliance is another major component of Latitude’s offering.
The company says it is licensed or approved to operate in 45 U.S. markets and is actively pursuing additional international licenses. By taking responsibility for regulatory requirements, Latitude aims to make it easier for businesses to integrate stablecoin payments without having to independently establish the necessary regulatory infrastructure in every market.
For financial technology companies, regulatory requirements can represent a significant barrier to international expansion. Different jurisdictions can impose different rules relating to money transmission, payments, digital assets, customer onboarding and compliance.
Latitude’s strategy is to centralize much of this complexity within its own infrastructure so customers can focus on developing their products and services.
Connecting Liquidity Providers Across Markets
Latitude is also building a network of liquidity partners and venues to support transactions in different markets.
The company says its network is designed to route transfers toward competitive pricing, with the goal of reducing unnecessary intermediaries, improving spreads and limiting additional costs.
Liquidity is particularly important for stablecoin-to-fiat transactions because the economics of a payment can be affected by the number of intermediaries involved and the availability of local currency liquidity.
By connecting different liquidity sources within its infrastructure, Latitude aims to create a more efficient transaction path for businesses operating internationally.
The company says its objective is to provide fewer transaction hops, tighter spreads and greater transparency around costs.
Building a Global On- and Off-Ramp Network
Latitude is pursuing an ambitious international expansion strategy centered on creating a broad network of local currency on- and off-ramps.
The company believes businesses competing in global markets will increasingly need payments infrastructure that works across countries from the beginning rather than requiring market-by-market development.
This approach could be particularly valuable for fintechs and digital businesses whose customers or employees are distributed internationally.
Instead of building separate infrastructure for each country, companies could potentially integrate Latitude once and access local payment capabilities across multiple jurisdictions through the same technical interface.
That creates a model in which international expansion becomes more closely connected to a company’s existing payments infrastructure rather than requiring a new technical and regulatory project every time it enters a new market.
Customer Experience Highlights Potential Benefits
Velo CFO, a customer of Latitude, has highlighted the practical benefits of the company’s infrastructure for international payments.
David Morgan, Partner and Head of Accounting at Velo CFO, said the company can initiate international payments that reach local accounts in the Philippines within minutes. He also pointed to timely payment clearing and lower fees as benefits for the company.
Such use cases illustrate the potential role of stablecoin infrastructure beyond cryptocurrency-focused businesses. Companies that simply need to move money internationally can potentially use stablecoins behind the scenes without making digital assets the central feature of their customer experience.
For finance and accounting teams, faster settlement and lower transaction costs could also simplify certain aspects of international payment management.
Experienced Leadership Team
Latitude was founded by Cyril Mathew, Brian Wrightson and Vivek Morzaria, a group of payments and financial infrastructure executives with experience at companies including Stripe, Coinbase, Meta, Uber and Zero Hash.
Their backgrounds span payments, financial technology, digital assets and large-scale technology platforms. The founders bring experience navigating the regulatory, technical and operational challenges involved in moving money across markets.
That experience is central to Latitude’s strategy as the company attempts to build infrastructure that operates across different financial systems and regulatory environments.
Funding Supports Latitude’s Global Expansion
The $35 million Series A provides Latitude with significant new capital as it works to expand its network of local payment connections, licensing coverage and liquidity relationships.
With total funding now reaching $43 million, the company has secured backing from investors with experience across financial technology, digital assets and technology infrastructure.
The participation of Oak HC/FT, NEA, Coinbase Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, OpenFX and Wilson Sonsini reflects growing investor interest in the infrastructure required to support the next generation of global payments.
Stablecoins have increasingly attracted attention as a potential mechanism for faster international money movement, but their long-term usefulness depends heavily on the infrastructure connecting digital assets to traditional financial systems.
Latitude is targeting that connection point directly.
By combining regulatory infrastructure, local payment connectivity, liquidity relationships and a unified API, the company is seeking to make stablecoin-powered international payments easier for businesses to deploy and easier for end users to experience.
As cross-border commerce becomes increasingly digital and businesses operate across more markets, the ability to move money quickly between stablecoins and local currencies could become an important component of global financial infrastructure. Latitude’s latest funding gives the company additional resources to pursue that opportunity and expand its network of local payment rails worldwide.
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