Squads raised $18M for its Altitude stablecoin platform, which has processed $200M in payments. The system uses licensed PSPs to bridge blockchain and fiat.
Squads has secured $18 million in a strategic funding round led by Solana Ventures, pushing the company’s total capital raised to $42.9 million. The injection of capital is earmarked for the expansion of Altitude, a financial operating system designed to facilitate business payments using stablecoin infrastructure. This development arrives as the financial services sector increasingly pivots toward blockchain-native settlement rails, moving away from traditional banking dependencies that have historically dictated the pace and cost of cross-border transactions.
For most of the past decade, financial product development for businesses remained tethered to the traditional banking sector. Building a platform required establishing complex bank partnerships to manage customer funds and gain access to legacy payment rails. Each expansion into a new geographic market necessitated a fresh round of banking relationships and compliance cycles. This model effectively created a high barrier to entry for fintech startups and limited the speed of global capital movement.
Stablecoins have fundamentally altered this dynamic by transforming money into software. By decoupling treasury management and payments from the fractional reserve banking system, platforms like Altitude can operate with greater autonomy. The core mechanism involves holding treasury assets in stablecoins, which settle instantly on-chain. When funds must interface with traditional banking systems, the platform utilizes a network of licensed payment service providers (PSPs). This hybrid approach allows businesses to maintain the speed of blockchain settlement while retaining the ability to off-ramp into fiat currencies.
The rapid adoption of stablecoin-based payment infrastructure has triggered significant consolidation within the financial technology sector. Recent high-profile acquisitions, such as Stripe’s $1.1 billion purchase of Bridge and Mastercard’s $1.8 billion acquisition of BVNK, underscore the institutional appetite for this technology. These acquisitions represent a strategic move to integrate stablecoin PSPs into existing financial stacks. With an Alpha Score of 63/100, MA stock page reflects a sector that is actively absorbing these capabilities to maintain competitive relevance in a globalized, digital-first economy.
Altitude positions itself as a full-stack platform that sits atop this shift. Since its public launch in December 2025, the platform has processed over $200 million in payments. Its user base spans exporters, global agencies, crypto-native firms, and distributed teams that require multi-currency support and programmable financial controls. By avoiding the direct custody of customer funds, Altitude minimizes the operational risks associated with traditional banking while leveraging the security of the Squads Protocol, which currently secures more than $10 billion in value.
Historically, the primary arguments against stablecoin adoption in mainstream finance centered on perceived gaps in compliance and security. Altitude addresses these concerns through a multi-layered architecture. The platform’s compliance engine automates sanctions screening, anti-money laundering (AML) checks, transaction monitoring, and know-your-business (KYB) verification. This engine acts as a bridge, allowing Altitude accounts to integrate seamlessly with licensed PSPs including Bridge, MoonPay, Infinite, and Due.
Security is enforced through a tiered approach:
Stepan Simkin, CEO of Squads, noted that the current maturity of the Solana network provides a robust foundation for global business finance. The regulatory environment has also begun to coalesce around frameworks that support these digital assets, allowing for the construction of comprehensive financial platforms that operate on a genuinely new system. Matthew Beck, head of Solana Ventures, emphasized that the team’s four-year history of building security infrastructure for the Solana ecosystem provides the technical credibility necessary to scale this vision.
For market participants, the success of this platform will be measured by its ability to maintain seamless connectivity with traditional banking rails as transaction volumes grow. The reliance on licensed PSPs means that Altitude’s operational continuity is partially dependent on the regulatory standing of its partners. If the network of PSPs continues to expand and integrate with legacy banking systems, the adoption curve for stablecoin-based operating systems is likely to accelerate. Conversely, any regulatory friction affecting the PSP layer could introduce latency or liquidity constraints for users relying on the platform for cross-border settlements. The firm’s ability to navigate these institutional requirements while maintaining the efficiency of its on-chain settlement remains the key variable for long-term growth.
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