Flex raises $70M to build business banking on stablecoin rails

Stablecoin-based business banking is attracting serious venture capital as Flex closes a $70 million Series B1 to build cross-border payment infrastructure on digital dollar rails.

Flex, a business banking platform built on stablecoin rails, raised $70 million in a Series B1 round, the latest sign that venture investors are betting on digital dollars to reshape cross-border corporate payments.

The funding comes as stablecoins move from retail speculation into mainstream financial infrastructure. The total stablecoin market cap has grown to more than $200 billion, according to DefiLlama data, with issuers like Tether and Circle expanding beyond consumer use cases into B2B payment rails. Flex's platform allows businesses to hold, send and receive payments in stablecoins, converting them to fiat currency at the point of settlement — effectively making the blockchain layer invisible to the end user.

The round shows a broader shift in how venture capital views stablecoin infrastructure. Rather than betting on speculative trading volumes, investors are funding companies that build real-world payment utilities. Flex competes with a growing field of stablecoin-enabled banking platforms, including those backed by major crypto exchanges and traditional fintech firms expanding into digital dollar services.

Why stablecoin banking matters now

The timing aligns with regulatory momentum in multiple jurisdictions. The U.S. Clarity Act, which follows the Genius Act that legalized stablecoins, would create a national framework for digital asset market structure. If passed, it could accelerate institutional adoption of stablecoin-based banking services. In the U.K., a Treasury-led tokenization taskforce including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan is working on live use cases for tokenized financial markets, with the Boston Consulting Group estimating the tokenized real-world asset market could reach $88 trillion by 2035.

For business banking specifically, stablecoin rails offer advantages over traditional correspondent banking networks. Cross-border payments via SWIFT can take two to five business days; stablecoin transactions settle in seconds or minutes. That speed advantage, combined with lower fees, is driving adoption among import-export businesses, freelancers and multinational corporations managing multi-currency treasury operations.

The competitive field

Flex is not alone in targeting this opportunity. Kraken recently launched a Mastercard debit card in the U.K. and Europe allowing users to spend from crypto and cash balances, while Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin has grown to a $1.53 billion market cap, serving as a bridge asset for cross-border payments. Traditional banks are also responding: JPMorgan has developed tokenized deposit products, and a consortium of U.S. banks is building crypto-adjacent clearing infrastructure to defend their deposit bases.

The $70 million Series B1 gives Flex the capital to scale its platform and expand into new markets, though the company has not disclosed its valuation or the full list of investors in the round. The deal signals that venture capital sees stablecoin-based business banking not as an experiment but as a viable competitor to traditional cross-border payment networks — one that could capture meaningful market share as regulatory frameworks solidify.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.