Exclusive: Crypto startup Seismic raises $10 million to help fintechs protect customer data
As more and more fintech companies use cryptocurrencies, they face a major challenge: making the blockchain public. This creates a risk that customers’ sensitive financial data, such as their salaries, or how much they pay for rent, could be inadvertently made public. This is a problem a startup called Seismic aims to solve.
Seismic announced on Wednesday that it has raised $10 million in a funding round led by a16z crypto, with participation from Polychain, Amber Group, TrueBridge, dao5, and LayerZero. In total, the startup has now raised a total of $17 million. Lyron Co Ting Keh, founder and CEO of Seismic, did not reveal the valuation of his company in an interview with luck.
Co Ting Keh explained that he named his startup Seismic for two reasons. First, it aims to be on the ground and know intimately the needs of its customers, which Ko Ting Keh said is crucial in the cryptocurrency space, a highly technical field where it can be easy to lose sight of the user. Second, seismic means huge, which is what the company ultimately wants to be.
“We know we are very stuck,” Ko Ting Keh said. “We hope it will be of great value.”
Seismic’s fundraising comes at a time when fintech companies and major financial institutions are embracing cryptocurrencies. With this embrace comes an increased need for privacy. In a16z crypto’s latest report titled “The State of Crypto,” they found that blockchain users are more aware than ever about whether their data is secure. The report notes that Google searches related to cryptocurrency privacy have risen in the past year.
As part of its mission to help fintech companies protect customer data, Seismic is partnering with a fintech company called Brookwell, which provides customers with stable currency accounts — where their money isn’t stored in a bank. When customers make transactions on Brookwell, the payment goes through Seismic’s blockchain trails, ensuring that the data is not leaked or publicly exposed.
Co Ting Keh said his company also works with Cred, a private credit service. He also stated that they are working with an unnamed company to transfer money internationally at a cheaper rate than traditional railways.
He said his company’s competition is Tempo, a Stripe-backed startup that recently raised $500 million and is valued at $5 billion. “Tempo is a very strong company,” he said, adding that both companies could succeed at the same time, “if the pie is big enough for us all to eat it.”
Seismic seeks to differentiate itself from its competitors through its comprehensive offerings. For example, when a company uses Seismic technology for a specific function, the Seismic service doesn’t stop there. They ask the company what else they need, and how they can go beyond their specific product. “Our value pillar is not that we do X, Y and Z. Our value pillar is that we help you win,” Ko Ting Keh said.
With the newly raised capital, the company plans to expand its offerings, such as moving from fiat currencies to crypto and card software. As of now, the company has no revenue but expects to do so by the first quarter of next year by charging one cent per transaction.
This story originally appeared on Fortune.com
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2025-11-12 13:00:00
