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Crypto startup Agora has closed a $50 million Series A round led by Paradigm, with participation from Dragonfly Capital. The funding will accelerate development of its white-label stablecoin platform AUSD, which allows companies to issue branded digital dollars while sharing underlying infrastructure. Founded by Nick van Eck (son of VanEck CEO Jan van Eck) alongside crypto veterans Drake Evans and Joe McGrady, Agora's valuation now approaches 【$130 million】.
——"We're building the rails before the trains arrive,"—— van Eck told Fortune, contrasting Agora's model with existing stablecoin providers. The platform has already partnered with Polygon for customized stablecoin issuance and completed its first OTC trade through Galaxy Digital earlier this year. Unlike market leaders Tether (【$158B】 market cap) and Circle (【$62B】), Agora shares yield from reserve assets with partners - a feature Evans calls "public goods economics".
With US stablecoin regulation pending under the GENIUS Act, Agora is initially targeting international markets where currency volatility creates demand. The company plans to acquire money transmitter licenses while monitoring US policy developments. Interestingly, non-crypto players including Meta and Elon Musk's X have shown stablecoin interest, while Trump-affiliated WLFI launched its USD1 token last quarter.
Paradigm's lead investment signals strong belief in Agora's technical infrastructure, despite entering a sector dominated by established players. Dragonfly exercised its rights to increase its stake after participating in Agora's 【$12 million】 seed round last April. The fresh capital will fund partnerships beyond crypto-native firms, potentially including traditional financial institutions seeking dollar-pegged digital assets.
As of press time, Agora hadn't responded to Cointelegraph's request for comment regarding specific roadmap milestones. Market observers note the timing coincides with renewed institutional crypto interest, with Bitcoin ETF inflows hitting 【$1.8B】 this month alone.