Velocity Extends Series A to 48 Million With Visa Ventures Circle and Ripple

Velocity, a London based stablecoin settlement and treasury platform founded in 2025, closed a $10 million extension to its Series A on September 15, 2026, bringing the round to $48 million and valuing the company at $200 million post money. The extension welcomed Visa Ventures, Circle Ventures, Ripple, Haun Ventures, Translink Capital and Mirana Ventures as participants, according to the company's announcement and coverage from PYMNTS, The Crypto Times, crypto.news and Tech Times.

The financing follows the company's initial $38 million Series A, which was disclosed on July 14, 2026. That earlier round was led by Dragonfly and FirstMark, with Activant Capital, Capital One Ventures, QED Investors, Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute Ventures and Ripple also participating. Velocity said the original Series A had been oversubscribed, and the company noted in July that the financing took total capital raised since May 2025 to nearly $50 million at that stage.

Velocity targets the wiring between a payment being authorized and money actually moving between institutions. Its infrastructure is designed to let merchants, payment providers, fintech companies and financial institutions use stablecoins for settlement, liquidity and treasury operations without ripping out their existing systems. The company combines stablecoin rails with local banks, custody, liquidity management and compliance, aiming to make money movement more continuous, reduce dependence on prefunding and extend settlement beyond traditional banking hours.

The new capital arrives at a moment when stablecoins are becoming an always on layer for moving liquidity, extending credit and settling financial obligations, as PYMNTS framed the shift. Visa's investment also lands weeks after Mastercard completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of BVNK, the stablecoin infrastructure company Visa had invested in and partnered with, and after Visa issued a request for proposal seeking a new stablecoin settlement partner. The extension therefore places Velocity inside a broader contest over who supplies the plumbing for regulated digital asset payments.

Key Facts

Velocity announced the $10 million extension on September 15, 2026. The add on brings the company's Series A to $48 million and its post money valuation to $200 million. Investors in the extension include Visa Ventures, Circle Ventures, Ripple, Haun Ventures, Translink Capital and Mirana Ventures. The round follows a $38 million Series A disclosed on July 14, 2026, which was led by Dragonfly and FirstMark and included Ripple alongside Activant Capital, Capital One Ventures, QED Investors, Coinbase Ventures and Wintermute Ventures. Eric Queathem, founder and chief executive of Velocity, said the company was excited to welcome several new investors, including Visa through Visa Ventures, and said the original Series A was oversubscribed.

The Crypto Times reported on September 15 that the extension brings Velocity's total Series A funding to $48 million, one month after the initial $38 million round. The same report noted that Visa recently said more than 160 stablecoin linked card programs were live worldwide in its fiscal second quarter, while payment volume on those programs rose nearly 200 percent year over year. Visa also said stablecoin settlement volume had passed a $20 billion annualized run rate, more than 15 times the level recorded a year earlier.

crypto.news reported on September 15 that the financing values London based Velocity at $200 million post money. The report also noted that Velocity works with merchants, payment providers, fintech companies and financial institutions that want to use stablecoins for money movement without rebuilding existing treasury systems. Translink Capital provides what the company described as a strategic bridge to its corporate and institutional partners in Asia. Haun Ventures and Mirana Ventures also joined the extension, while Ripple had already backed the earlier $38 million round.

Tech Times reported on September 15 that Visa moved after Mastercard completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of BVNK on August 3, 2026, and after Visa issued a request for proposal on August 18, 2026, seeking a new stablecoin settlement partner. Velocity's extension came roughly four weeks after that request. The report added that BVNK processed billions in stablecoin transactions across 130 countries and powered stablecoin payments on Visa Direct.

Velocity's September activity also includes a partnership with MVB Financial. On September 9, 2026, MVB Financial and Velocity announced participation in a Visa Direct pilot that lets eligible participants use stablecoins for certain push to card funding and settlement. The pilot supports stablecoin enabled funding and settlement for eligible payouts. Separately, the report noted that stablecoin payment infrastructure has drawn other large 2026 financings, including Tazapay's $36 million Series B with Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Ripple.

Analysis

What this really means is that Visa is not simply writing a venture check. Visa is buying optionality in the settlement layer at a moment when its previous stablecoin infrastructure partner, BVNK, has been absorbed by Mastercard. The timing is hard to ignore. Mastercard completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of BVNK on August 3, 2026. Fifteen days later, on August 18, 2026, Visa issued a request for proposal seeking a new stablecoin settlement partner. Velocity's $10 million extension and $200 million post money valuation arrived roughly four weeks after that request. For Visa Ventures, the investment gives Visa a financial stake in a London startup that is building exactly the kind of stablecoin settlement and treasury infrastructure Visa needs to keep its own payment network competitive.

The bigger picture here is that the stablecoin payments race is moving beyond token issuance and into the wiring between authorization and finality. Velocity's platform is designed to reduce prefunding, extend settlement beyond banking hours and make money movement more continuous. The economics explain why. Tech Times reported on September 15 that cross border wires can touch four institutions and settle in two to five business days, while stablecoin rails settle in seconds at under 1 percent of transaction value, compared with three to seven percent for traditional wires. That gap is not a marginal improvement. It is a structural challenge to the correspondent banking model.

Circle Ventures and Ripple are also notable backers because both companies are major promoters of regulated stablecoins and their use in payments, liquidity and institutional finance. Their participation, alongside Visa Ventures, brings Velocity into contact with issuers, networks and infrastructure providers that rarely sit on the same cap table. PYMNTS reported on September 15 that the involvement of Circle Ventures and Ripple brings Velocity together with two major companies promoting regulated stablecoins. Translink Capital, meanwhile, gives Velocity a strategic bridge to corporate and institutional partners in Asia. The investor roster therefore does more than fund the company. It aligns Velocity with distribution, stablecoin issuance and cross border payment corridors.

The judgement is that Velocity is being positioned as a neutral settlement layer for institutions that do not want to rebuild their treasury systems around unstable crypto rails. Eric Queathem spent nine years at Worldpay, which settles more than $2 trillion in payment volume annually. He has argued that all the capital that flowed into payments over the last 15 years focused on the front end for consumers, while no one fixed the back end layer. Velocity's pitch is that stablecoins can fix that back end without forcing banks, merchants and payment providers to abandon their existing systems. If that pitch holds, the $200 million post money valuation looks less like a bet on a single startup and more like a bet on a missing layer of global payments infrastructure.

Why It Matters

For merchants, payment providers and financial institutions, Velocity's infrastructure matters because it attacks prefunding and settlement delay. Traditional cross border wires can settle in two to five business days and can involve four institutions, according to Tech Times. Stablecoin rails can settle in seconds at under 1 percent of transaction value, compared with three to seven percent for traditional wires. Those numbers matter for treasury teams that hold liquidity in multiple accounts around the world. If Velocity can combine stablecoin rails with local banks, custody, liquidity management and compliance, it can reduce the capital that sits idle while payments move.

For Visa, the investment matters because stablecoin linked card programs and settlement volume are already scaling inside its network. The Crypto Times reported on September 15 that Visa said more than 160 stablecoin linked card programs were live worldwide in its fiscal second quarter, with payment volume on those programs up nearly 200 percent year over year, and stablecoin settlement volume past a $20 billion annualized run rate, more than 15 times the level a year earlier. Partnering with and investing in Velocity gives Visa a way to deepen stablecoin settlement without relying only on a single acquired partner. It also follows the September 9 MVB Financial and Velocity Visa Direct pilot, which supports stablecoin enabled funding and settlement for eligible payouts.

For London and the broader fintech ecosystem, Velocity's extension shows that stablecoin infrastructure can still command premium valuations despite market cycles. Velocity was founded in 2025. It raised a $38 million Series A in July 2026, then added $10 million in September 2026 at a $200 million post money valuation. The company said total capital raised since May 2025 was nearly $50 million at the July stage. Other stablecoin infrastructure financings, such as Tazapay's $36 million Series B with Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Ripple, point to sustained investor interest in regulated digital asset payment rails.

Next Up

Velocity will use the additional capital to expand its stablecoin payments infrastructure. The immediate operational milestone is its work with MVB Financial on the Visa Direct pilot, which lets eligible participants use stablecoins for certain push to card funding and settlement. Beyond that, the company will be watched for how quickly it converts its new investor relationships into commercial partnerships. Visa Ventures, Circle Ventures and Ripple bring strategic weight, but the market will look for evidence that Velocity's rails are carrying real institutional volume.

Queathem has said he believes that in five years every global business is going to hold value onchain. Whether that prediction proves accurate, the September 15 extension gives Velocity more runway to connect stablecoin rails with local banks, custody, liquidity management and compliance. The next test is whether Visa's request for a new stablecoin settlement partner, Circle's regulated stablecoin ambitions and Ripple's institutional payment network translate into deeper integration with Velocity's platform.