Rain Raises $250M, Signaling Stablecoins' Shift to Mainstream Finance

NEW YORK, NY – January 09, 2026 – Rain, a financial technology firm building payments infrastructure powered by stablecoins, today announced it has secured $250 million in a Series C funding round. The investment, led by the global firm ICONIQ, catapults Rain’s valuation to $1.95 billion—a staggering increase of more than 17 times in just 10 months—and brings its total capital raised to over $338 million.

The massive influx of capital marks a pivotal moment, not just for Rain, but for the entire digital asset ecosystem. It underscores a powerful narrative shift: stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to stable assets like the U.S. dollar, are rapidly moving from the speculative fringes of cryptocurrency into the operational core of global enterprise finance. The funding round saw participation from a roster of prominent venture firms, including Sapphire Ventures, Dragonfly, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Galaxy Ventures, signaling broad institutional consensus on the technology's potential.

From Niche to Necessity: The Stablecoin Mainstream Push

For years, the broader crypto market has been defined by volatility and speculation. Stablecoins emerged as a tool for traders to move in and out of riskier assets. Now, visionaries and investors are betting that their true utility lies in rewriting the rules of global payments. This latest funding round is a testament to that belief.

"We believe we're witnessing a shift from legacy payment networks to programmable digital-asset infrastructure, and there is a brief window to help define the default platform enterprises will rely on," said Kamran Zaki, a Partner at ICONIQ. Zaki highlighted Rain's rare combination of "full-stack technology, regulatory readiness, and real-world scale" as key differentiators that resonate with large corporations transitioning from exploration to full-scale production on blockchain rails.

The company’s metrics illustrate this rapid adoption. In the past year alone, Rain has seen its active card base grow 30-fold and its annualized payment volume surge by 38-fold. The platform now facilitates over $3 billion in annualized transactions for a diverse portfolio of over 200 partners, including established giants like Western Union and Nuvei. This isn't theoretical potential; it's real-world volume demonstrating a clear market need for more efficient, global, and compliant payment solutions.

Building the 'Invisible' Rails for Global Commerce

Rain's core mission is to make the underlying blockchain technology effectively invisible to the end-user. The company provides an end-to-end platform that allows enterprises to launch a suite of stablecoin-powered financial products with a single partner. This includes issuing payment cards, offering rewards, managing secure digital wallets, and facilitating instant payouts and cross-border transfers.

A cornerstone of this strategy is Rain's status as a Visa Principal Member. This distinction is crucial, as it allows the company to directly issue payment cards that function anywhere Visa is accepted across more than 150 countries. This capability transforms a digital-native asset into a tool for everyday purchases, from a morning coffee to critical business expenses like cloud services. By tokenizing its own credit card receivables and settling transactions with Visa directly in USDC stablecoins, Rain can operate 24/7/365, a significant advantage over traditional banking systems bound by business hours and batch processing.

This infrastructure provides tangible solutions to long-standing financial friction. The partnership with Western Union, for instance, connects Rain-powered digital wallets to a global network of physical cash withdrawal points. A user holding stablecoins can seamlessly convert them to local fiat currency at a Western Union location, creating a vital bridge between the digital and physical economies and enhancing financial access for billions.

"Stablecoins are quickly becoming the way money moves in the 21st century, but adoption by users worldwide requires cards and apps that just work," said Farooq Malik, CEO and Co-founder of Rain. "In the last year, our active card base has increased 30x and our annualized payment volume has increased 38x, but we're still in the early innings."

Navigating a Global Regulatory Maze

With the new funding, Rain plans an ambitious global expansion across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. This push, however, requires navigating a complex and fragmented global regulatory landscape for stablecoins. The company's emphasis on compliance and its proactive engagement with financial systems like Visa are central to its strategy for surmounting this challenge.

In the United States, the 2025 Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act has provided a clearer federal framework, mandating 100% liquid reserves and opening the door for regulated issuance. In Europe, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation has established stringent rules for stablecoin issuers, demanding authorization and robust reserve management while effectively banning unbacked algorithmic variants. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority is following suit with its own proposals for fiat-backed stablecoins.

Across Asia, the approach is similarly varied but trending toward clarity. Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore have all implemented licensing regimes that require issuers to meet high standards for reserve backing, redemption rights, and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. Meanwhile, in Africa, nations like Kenya and Nigeria are developing their own frameworks to foster innovation while ensuring financial stability.

Rain's success will depend on its ability to operate within these diverse legal structures. Its status as a Visa Principal Member already demonstrates a high level of operational maturity and regulatory adherence, providing partners with confidence that their programs are built on a compliant foundation. The new capital will be deployed to secure licenses in these key markets and deepen the platform's capabilities, including through strategic acquisitions, to ensure it remains ahead of the regulatory curve and makes stablecoin-powered payments feel seamless and secure for businesses and consumers worldwide.