Exclusive: Stablecoin startup Agora raises $50 million Series A led by crypto VC giant Paradigm

It was founded by Nick Van Eyk – of the CEO of a prominent investment management company, Jean Van Eyk – along with ancient warriors in Drake Evans and Joe McGradi, Agura competes in an increasingly crowded space dominated by competitors including Circle and Tether.

But with the new financing, which follows a $ 12 million seed tour in the past year, Agura hopes to build Ausd, its Stablecoin, or a kind of cryptocurrency associated with basic origin like the US dollar. Agora provides white signs service to other companies, allowing it to launch its own version of AUSD, which can take advantage of the interim operation and basic liquidity in Stablecoin.

“What we wanted to do is something really narrated, and it begins to build the network,” said Van Ik luck. “We have always had the opinion that we would issue a white Muslim in a different way from how their current peers did this.”

Stablecoin explosion

Although the Blockchain industry may have long dominated it by the leading cryptocurrencies in Bitcoin and Ethereum, Stablecoins appeared during the past year as a goal to invest in the project. This sector has always sought a “fatal application” that would push adoption to be further speculation, as Stablecoins is considered a kind of digital dollar that provides transactions close to eight and reduce people and companies and through borders.

After announcing a seed tour last year, Agora immediately faced intense competition from the two occupants of reaching and two, which stablecoins costs the market links of $ 158 billion and $ 62 billion, respectively. Agura sits at only $ 130 million. But since more companies, including non -experiments such as Meta and Apple, are flooded with their toes in Stablecoins, Agora makes the bet that there will be many winners, especially if they are helping to promote adoption.

Unlike Tether and Circle, Agora’s business model is designed about helping other companies to launch their STABLECOINS, similar to Paxos, another early engine in space that worked with PayPal to launch Pyusd. But unlike Paxos, any company that works with Agora Stablecoin will launch on top of Ausd, which enhances its own trench and takes advantage of the wider network effects, such as liquidity and inter -operation. Agora worked with encryption companies like Polygon to help them launch detailed Stablecoins for decentralized financing projects, but VAN ECK said that Agora is expected to work with non -advanced companies forward.

When Agora launched last summer, the organizational expectations of Stablecoins were still unconfirmed in the United States, where the company abroad is looking for customers. This can change as congress considers legislation that would regulate the sector, as the Senate is going through a draft law in June in which the House of Representatives is currently studying. Van Eyk said that he expected Agura to start serving American entities if the legislation is enacted and that the company has obtained licenses of state funds.

However, he said luck The company’s concentration will remain outside the United States, as there is more demand for stablecoins due to local currency fluctuations and the need for cross -border payments. “Many different financial institutions outside the United States, as I say, seem more aggressive and will be faster to move from some companies in the United States,” said Van Eyk. “Many companies in the United States are talking about it because it is the topic of Duor.”

Unlike leading Stablecoins like Tether and USDC, Agora is designed to exchange the return of dollar -like assets that support Stablecoin with its partners. “One of the things we thought at first is that Stablecoins should be operated like public goods, which means for us that the lion’s share of revenues be transferred to people who provide value within this cash network,” Evans told Evans. luck.

Agora operates with State Street and VANECK, the investment company run by Van Euck’s father, to manage its reserves.

Although the Seed Dragonfly investor contributed $ 12 million in the AS, the largest part of the investment comes from Paradigm, the Crypto Venture company started by the founder of Coinbase Fred Ehrsam and Sequoia Alum Matt Huang. General partner Charlie Nuiz, Agora’s producer, described “stablecoin that has been linked to the batteries”, which will allow companies to create their own version quickly without the need to employ 10 engineers for their design.

While the Noyes acknowledged the aggressive scene, as companies spend large sums of money and use more harsh tactics to pay the adoption of their own products, he said that the AGORA mix of white brands service, interconnection capacity, and the exchange of revenue will make it an attractive option for companies that explore the red surface area. “It is competitive, but it is clear that many have not broke out,” he said.

It was updated to clarify Dragonfly investments in the series A..