In March 2025, stablecoin-powered card issuer Rain announced a $24.5 million Series A funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from strategic investors including Lightspeed Faction, Firebolt Ventures, and the Arrowsic Fund. Just as notably, Rain revealed a global card-issuing partnership with Visa, aiming to extend its reach to key markets in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
At first glance, the announcement might look like another well-timed crypto payments play. But dig deeper, and it’s clear this isn’t just about Rain. It’s about the maturing of a broader stablecoin-based payments infrastructure, where regulated, on-chain value meets real-world spending rails—and regulators and enterprise partners are watching closely.
What Is Rain and How Does It Work?
Rain provides API-first card issuing infrastructure that allows fintechs and Web3 companies to issue branded cards backed by stablecoins. Its platform enables crypto-native businesses to offer users the ability to spend digital assets directly at the point of sale—while handling the complex regulatory and compliance back-end needed to support fiat off-ramps.
Rain already supports major stablecoins like USDC and uses automated compliance workflows to meet AML and KYC requirements, providing a scalable framework that appeals to both developers and regulators. With its Visa partnership, Rain plans to expand from pilot programs in the U.S. and Latin America to global card issuance, serving developers and platforms that want to embed crypto spending into everyday consumer experiences.
Why Rain’s Series A Matters for Crypto Infrastructure
This isn’t just a fintech startup raising a large round. Rain’s funding reflects several converging trends:
1. Institutional Confidence in Stablecoin Infrastructure
Norwest Venture Partners’ lead role and Visa’s direct involvement indicate that stablecoin-based payments are moving beyond crypto-native circles. Institutional investors and incumbents now recognize that on-chain value can be safely integrated with real-world rails—if done through the right intermediaries.
2. Global appetite for stablecoin spending tools
Across Latin America, Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa, consumers increasingly demand alternatives to inflation-prone local currencies. Rain’s approach allows fintechs and crypto wallets in emerging markets to integrate stablecoin cards without building the back-end infrastructure themselves.
3. Regulatory momentum and compliance-first design
As global regulators continue to craft frameworks for stablecoins, companies like Rain that build compliance into the core of their stack are well-positioned. Unlike early crypto card programs that skirted AML obligations or relied on unlicensed partners, Rain’s stack is optimized for jurisdictional modularity—making it easier to launch in new markets without regulatory whiplash.
Stablecoins as the New Global Payment Backbone
Rain’s model hints at a broader trend: the rise of stablecoins as programmable cash for the internet economy. Rather than relying on complex banking integrations, developers can now tap into Rain’s APIs to issue cards, move money, and manage compliance—all using stablecoins as the settlement layer.
This creates exciting new possibilities:
- DAOs and DeFi protocols issuing team cards for contributor payouts
- On-demand labor platforms paying contractors instantly in USDC
- Cross-border e-commerce platforms offering stablecoin refunds
As stablecoins like USDC and USDP become more integrated into traditional financial services, companies like Rain help close the gap between on-chain liquidity and off-chain utility.
What Crypto Builders and Investors Should Pay Attention To
For Web3 startups, embedded stablecoin spending is no longer aspirational—it’s a product feature that users increasingly expect. Developers should think about how to:
- Use stablecoin rails to improve user experience
- Reduce reliance on costly banking integrations
- Streamline global contractor and vendor payments
For investors, Rain’s raise is a signal to reassess the value chain around card issuing and stablecoin use cases:
- Which startups are embedding stablecoin spending features natively?
- Are stablecoins just a backend solution, or becoming user-facing?
- Which compliance-forward infrastructure players will become market standards?
Veritas Global’s Take: Crypto Payments Are Growing Up
Rain’s $24.5 million Series A is more than a growth milestone—it’s a vote of confidence in the next generation of crypto payments infrastructure. As stablecoins mature into regulated, reliable value carriers, the platforms that bridge them to consumer use cases will shape the next phase of global fintech.
At Veritas Global, we work with crypto-native companies, stablecoin issuers, and financial infrastructure providers to navigate evolving regulatory landscapes, secure strategic partnerships, and design compliant products that scale.
Building something at the intersection of crypto and payments? Contact us today to learn how we can support your legal, strategic, and regulatory needs from launch to global expansion.
