Investor interest in core crypto infrastructure is rising, with Mesh payments emerging as a key player in the shift toward real-world blockchain-based transactions.
Summary
Series C round propels Mesh to unicorn status
Mesh, a fast-growing crypto payments network, has raised $75 million in a Series C funding round that values the company at $1 billion and pushes its total financing above $200 million. The latest capital injection underscores how investors are increasingly backing infrastructure rather than speculative token launches.
The round was led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Paradigm, Moderne Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, SBI Investment and Liberty City Ventures. Moreover, the mix of crypto-native funds and traditional venture capital firms highlights growing confidence in payment-focused blockchain startups.
Mesh said the financing will help it scale what it describes as a unified network designed to connect a fragmented global payments landscape and reduce reliance on traditional settlement rails. However, the company also argues that meaningful adoption will depend on making digital assets behave more like everyday money for both consumers and merchants.
Building a borderless payments layer
Mesh positions its technology as a form of borderless payments infrastructure, tackling the inefficiencies of legacy payment systems such as slow settlement and high fees. It aims to enable crypto-native payments across multiple chains and assets while hiding much of the underlying complexity from end users.
Co-founder and CEO Bam Azizi describes the crypto ecosystem as “crowded by design,” with constant new tokens and protocols adding friction. That said, Mesh is betting that the real opportunity lies in interoperability rather than launching yet another asset.
Against this backdrop, the company wants mesh payments to act as the connective layer that lets wallets, blockchains and digital assets function as one coordinated system. Moreover, Mesh maintains that future winners will be those capable of stitching together disparate networks into a seamless user experience.
Expanding across global markets
The Series C capital will also fuel Mesh’s international expansion, particularly in Latin America, Asia and Europe, while supporting continued product development. These regions are seen as key growth markets due to high mobile adoption, volatile local currencies and large cross-border payment flows.
Mesh said its network already reaches more than 900 million users worldwide through integrations with existing platforms and partners. Moreover, the company has previously expanded into India, citing the country’s young digital population and more than $125 billion in annual remittances as a major opportunity for more efficient transfers.
In addition, Mesh has announced support for Ripple USD and rolled out partnerships with Paxos and Rain, reflecting a broader strategy to deepen its role in stablecoin based payments. However, these moves also highlight the complexity of connecting multiple issuers, chains and regulatory regimes under one network.
Addressing stablecoin fragmentation with SmartFunding
Mesh is also targeting what it calls the “stablecoin paradox” – the rapid growth of dollar-pegged tokens alongside increasing fragmentation across platforms and chains. In 2025, stablecoins collectively reached a $300 billion market capitalization and processed more than $27 trillion in annual transaction volume, yet liquidity remains siloed in disconnected ecosystems.
To bridge these gaps, Mesh has developed its SmartFunding technology, which is designed to enable an “any-to-any” experience for users and merchants. Moreover, the system allows consumers to pay with assets such as Bitcoin or Solana while merchants receive instant settlement in stablecoins like USDC or PYUSD, or even in traditional fiat currencies.
Importantly, part of the Series C round itself was settled using stablecoins, signaling growing institutional comfort with blockchain-native payment rails. However, Mesh still needs to prove that its model can scale, maintain regulatory compliance and handle the operational demands of global commerce while preserving the efficiency gains it promises.
Overall, the new funding gives Mesh the resources to expand its network, refine SmartFunding and deepen its role in connecting fragmented digital asset ecosystems, as institutions and users look for more reliable ways to move value across chains, regions and currencies.
