HIFI Raises $37 Million to Build the Plumbing Between Bank Accounts, Stablecoins and Tokenised Markets

For much of the past decade, cryptocurrency made headlines mainly for price swings and speculation. Increasingly, however, the most significant investment in the sector is flowing into something less glamorous but potentially far more important: the infrastructure that lets money move between traditional banks and blockchain networks.

HIFI, a New York-based financial technology company, is one of the latest beneficiaries of that shift. The company announced on Thursday, September 24, that it has raised $37 million in a Series A funding round led by Left Lane Capital, according to The Block and TechStartups.

What HIFI does

HIFI provides application programming interfaces (APIs) — software building blocks that other companies can plug into their own products — to move money, handle compliance and settle transactions across both traditional bank rails and digital assets such as stablecoins and tokenised securities.

In simple terms, HIFI aims to be the connective tissue between the old financial system and the new one. A business that wants to pay suppliers in stablecoins, accept payments from customers overseas or settle trades in tokenised assets can use HIFI's infrastructure rather than building its own connections to banks, blockchain networks and compliance systems.

The company says it processes more than $7 billion in annualised volume and operates across 87 countries. According to TechStartups, it has also helped onboard more than 10,000 businesses and 200,000 individuals.

Recent milestones

HIFI has been involved in several notable developments in tokenised finance this year.

In July 2026, it participated in production trades using tokenised securities from the Depository Trust Company, a subsidiary of DTCC, the central post-trade infrastructure provider for US securities markets, alongside participants including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Nasdaq, according to The Block.

In September 2026, HIFI announced a partnership with Visa to expand Visa's stablecoin settlement platform, including stablecoin-funded payouts to more than 4 billion Visa cards worldwide. TechStartups also reported that HIFI supported a live transaction between trading firms DRW and Marex on the Canton Network, a blockchain designed for institutional finance.

Where the money will go

HIFI plans to use the new capital to obtain additional regulatory licences, expand in New York and selected international markets, and move beyond payments into cards and capital-markets infrastructure, according to TechStartups.

That expansion reflects the company's ambition to become a broad platform for programmable money, rather than a single-purpose payments provider.

The stablecoin boom

HIFI's funding comes as stablecoins — digital tokens designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to the US dollar — have grown into a major part of the financial system.

According to figures cited by The Block, the total supply of dollar-pegged stablecoins has surpassed $295 billion. Tether's USDT accounts for about $183 billion and Circle's USDC for about $76 billion. Visa's own stablecoin settlement volume has reached a $20 billion annualised run rate, up about 15 times year on year, The Block reported.

Stablecoins are attractive because they combine the stability of traditional currencies with the speed, programmability and global reach of blockchain networks. Payments can move around the clock, across borders, in minutes rather than days, and at potentially lower cost than traditional correspondent banking.

Regulatory clarity has also improved in the United States, where stablecoin legislation passed in 2025 established a federal framework for payment stablecoins, encouraging banks, payment companies and fintech firms to explore their use.

Consumer attitudes are shifting too. A survey cited by The Block found that 56% of US adults would use stablecoins if they came with bank-level protections, though that figure fell to 36% without such safeguards — a sign of how important trust and regulation remain.

Tokenisation moves mainstream

Beyond payments, HIFI is positioning itself for the tokenisation of traditional financial assets.

Tokenisation involves representing assets such as bonds, shares, funds or collateral as digital tokens on a blockchain. Advocates argue it can make settlement faster, reduce operational costs, enable assets to be traded around the clock and allow collateral to move more efficiently between institutions.

Major financial institutions have been experimenting with tokenised assets for several years, and activity has accelerated. The participation of DTCC and large asset managers in tokenised securities trading suggests that tokenisation is moving from pilot projects towards production use.

For infrastructure providers such as HIFI, the opportunity lies in the complexity. Institutions need to connect tokenised assets with existing custody, compliance, banking and accounting systems. Companies that can handle that complexity through simple APIs could become essential partners.

Why investors are backing it

Left Lane Capital, which led the round, is a growth-stage investor focused on technology companies. Its decision to back HIFI reflects a broader view among investors that the winners in digital assets are increasingly likely to be infrastructure providers rather than speculative tokens.

The venture thesis is essentially about settlement architecture. If tokenised cash, securities and collateral achieve broad institutional adoption, companies that abstract away custody, compliance, banking connections and cross-network settlement could occupy a valuable position between traditional finance and blockchain-based systems.

Risks and challenges

The sector still faces significant risks. Regulation of digital assets varies widely around the world and continues to evolve. Compliance requirements, including anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer rules, are complex and costly. Competition is intense, with established payment companies, banks, crypto exchanges and many start-ups vying to build similar infrastructure.

There are also broader questions about the stability of stablecoins, the security of blockchain networks and the potential impact of widespread stablecoin use on the traditional banking system.

What it means for India and emerging markets

For India and other emerging markets, the rise of stablecoin and tokenisation infrastructure raises important questions. India has taken a cautious approach to private cryptocurrencies, while the Reserve Bank of India has been developing its own central bank digital currency, the e-rupee.

At the same time, faster and cheaper cross-border payments could benefit the Indian diaspora, which sends more remittances home than any other diaspora in the world, as well as Indian exporters and businesses that trade internationally. How India balances innovation, financial stability and monetary sovereignty will shape how these technologies develop in one of the world's largest remittance markets.

HIFI's $37 million round is a clear sign that investors believe the plumbing of global finance is being rebuilt. The companies that build those pipes could shape how money moves for decades to come.