A small group of firms, Circle, Figure, Ripple, Tempo, and Rapyd, accounted for over half of total funding.
Payment companies raised $6.2 billion in 2025, a meteoric rise from the $540 million raised in 2024, as investors bet on blockchain-based financial infrastructure replacing traditional settlement systems.
The raises, which represent more than a 1,000% increase from the previous year, were led by stablecoin issuer Circle’s $1.05 billion initial public offering (IPO).
Circle, Figure, Ripple, Tempo, and Rapyd were responsible for more than half of the year’s total funding, after collectively raising around $3.6 billion through public markets and private rounds, respectively.
Circle’s June IPO priced shares at $31, securing an $8.06 billion valuation backed by 15 investment banks, including JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs. The company, which issues USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, saw its share price rise to over $123 at some point on the day of its IPO.
Figure, a blockchain-based lending platform, raised $1 billion through its September IPO, valuing the company at $7.6 billion. The firm has facilitated more than $17 billion in home equity lending across the United States, with Sixth Street investing $200 million of equity capital with recycling capability for future loan production in February 2025.
Ripple completed a $500 million round at a $40 billion valuation, led by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, Citadel Securities, Brevan Howard, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, and Marshall Wace.
Rapyd, which acquired fintech company PayU, raised $500 million earlier in the year, partly from equity and debt.
The year’s closing weeks saw continued appetite for payment infrastructure investments. RedotPay, a stablecoin payments platform, raised $107 million in Series B funding led by Goodwater Capital with participation from Pantera Capital, Blockchain Capital, and Circle Ventures.
The company processes more than $10 billion in annualized payment volume, nearly tripling year over year, while generating over $150 million in annualized revenue and operating profitably.
According to data compiled by Alex Obchakevich, a payments data scientist at Polygon, more than 20 companies secured significant funding rounds beyond the top three.
Tempo also raised $500 million in a round led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks, while AlloyX secured $350 million, and Rail Financial and Moonpay each obtained $200 million.
Observers believe that investors are emboldened by the current pro-cryptocurrency posture of the Trump-led White House, which signed into law the GENIUS Act.
Beyond capital raises, 2025 saw more development of payment-focused blockchain infrastructure. Obchakevich pointed out that more than 35 blockchain networks identify Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Base as top-tier payment chains, citing partnerships with Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Revolut, among others.
He also spotlighted Tempo, Plasma, and Arc, calling them “part of a new wave of stablecoin infrastructures” that emerged specifically to optimize global payments and settlements using stablecoins. He placed all of them in the S-tier.
Tron and Ripple remain fundamentally important for payment projects, with Tron processing more than half of all USDT stablecoin transactions globally.
Meanwhile, Celo has made significant contributions to stablecoin payments in Africa and Asia through projects such as MiniPay and Noah. Obchakevich placed Tron and Ripple in the A-tier and also categorized others that have emerged in the ecosystem in the group, with some in tier B, C, and finally D.
