Zodia Markets, a London-based digital asset platform focused on enabling institutional capital flows via stablecoins, has raised US$18.25 million in a Series A funding round, amid growing demand for real-time wholesale trading, settlement, and cross-border transactions using stablecoins.
The round was led by Pharsalus Capital, a New York-based venture capital firm, with participation from Circle Ventures, The Operating Group, XVC Tech, Token Bay Capital, Human Capital, and other strategic investors.
Founded in 2021 by Usman Ahmad and Nick Philpott, Zodia Markets has been backed since its inception by SC Ventures, the innovation arm of Standard Chartered Bank, and OSL Group, a Hong Kong-based digital asset company.
The firm provides an institutional-first approach combining wholesale finance with the continuous availability of digital assets and has developed stablecoin-enabled flows across multiple currencies and regions.
Usman Ahmad, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said:
“This raise is an endorsement of our strategy, vision and execution, but more than that, reflects the conviction of globally respected investors who recognise both the complexity of this market and the scale of what we’re building. Their participation signals confidence not just in our model, but in our role as a leader in reshaping and redefining wholesale capital movement.
“Institutional capital shouldn’t have to wait for banking hours or be held back by manual workarounds. Our heritage means we’re in a unique position to re-engineer traditional foreign exchange capital flows with real-time stablecoin settlement across borders. The next era of finance starts with us, and we’re excited to have more support to execute our vision to reimagine the movement of money.”
Zodia Markets currently supports over 20 fiat currencies and more than 70 digital assets, including USD and non-USD stablecoins.
The funding will be used to continue the firm’s geographic expansion, develop stablecoin-based payment orchestration capabilities, and introduce additional institutional trading products to facilitate cross-border payments.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by weyo via Freepik
