When it comes to quant elite payments, why does FIN, built by Citadel veterans, attract top-tier venture capital? From TipLink to a focused large-value cross-border transfer payment platform, FIN is challenging the traditional banking global payment system with stablecoin technology.
(Background: Stablecoins won’t drain banks! Cornell study: deposit stickiness is super strong, forcing banks to upgrade)
(Additional context: United Stables launches $U stablecoin on BNB and Ethereum, emphasizing “unified liquidity” and AI payment economy)

Table of Contents

• FIN’s core positioning
• Core team: Quant genes + pain point-driven
• Funding history
• From TipLink to FIN: How does the project operate?
• Summary

In the current global financial system, large-value cross-border transfers are still plagued by “slow到账, high fees, complicated processes.” A startup called FIN is directly addressing this pain point with stablecoins, aiming to rewrite industry norms.

Founded by two former Citadel employees, FIN is not a small side project but is building large-scale payment rails through stablecoin technology, dedicated to providing real-time, efficient cross-border transfer experiences for enterprises and high-net-worth individuals.

In early December 2025, FIN announced the completion of a $17 million funding round, led by Pantera Capital, with Sequoia and Samsung Next participating. This capital recognition highlights its potential in the sector.

So, what kind of product is FIN? What is its background? How will it be implemented and operated in the future? This article will give you an in-depth look.

FIN’s Core Positioning

Many people’s first impression of this team comes from its predecessor TipLink—a lightweight tool supporting encrypted asset transfer via URL links, supporting Solana network with zero fees.

But after rebranding to FIN, its goal has upgraded to “challenging traditional banks’ global payment apps,” focusing on meeting the needs of users and enterprises for large transfers of hundreds of thousands of dollars, supporting transfers to other FIN users, direct bank deposits, or circulation through cryptocurrency channels.

FIN CEO Ian Krotinsky explicitly stated in an interview with Forbes that the company’s core goal is to create “the payment app of the future”: fully leveraging stablecoin technology while removing its complex professional barriers, enabling seamless global use.

This positioning aligns well with current trends in the stablecoin sector.

Core Team: Quant Genes + Pain Point-Driven

One of FIN’s core competitive advantages lies in the hardcore background of its founding team.

• FIN Co-Founder and CEO Ian Krotinsky: Before founding the project in 2022, he worked from 2016 to 2022 as a quantitative portfolio manager and trader at top hedge fund Citadel, and previously was a systematic trader at Goldman Sachs.
• FIN Co-Founder and CTO Aashiq Dheeraj: Worked as a quantitative researcher at Citadel Securities from 2018 to 2022.

According to Forbes, during their time at Citadel, the two often developed various hacker projects during evenings and weekends, including a Reddit-like platform where users could earn $50 if their posts made it to the front page. This experience gave them a deep understanding of the inefficiencies and high costs of traditional cross-border transfers, motivating them to solve this pain point with blockchain technology.

According to FIN’s official website, team members also have backgrounds at Google, Meta, Uber, and top US digital bank Chime.

Funding History

As early as February 2023, TipLink completed a $6 million seed round led by Sequoia Capital and Multicoin Capital, with participation from Solana Ventures, Circle Ventures, Paxos, and others.

Nearly three years later, on December 3, 2025, FIN announced the completion of a $17 million Series A funding round, led by Pantera Capital, with Sequoia Capital and Samsung Next participating. Industry veterans such as Helius CEO Mert, Stripe’s stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge CEO Zach Abrams, Ellipsis Labs co-founder Jarry Xiao, and Tensor co-founder Richard Wu joined as angel investors.

From TipLink to FIN: How does the project operate?

As mentioned, FIN’s predecessor was TipLink. TipLink is a lightweight wallet with its biggest innovation being that the link itself is a non-custodial wallet, supporting only the Solana network and charging no fees.

TipLink has built a mature lightweight payment ecosystem:

• Ordinary users can log in via Web3 wallets or Google accounts, create TipLinks, and share them via SMS, Discord, email, and other platforms. Recipients can log in with Gmail to automatically activate the wallet, enabling asset holding, transfer, or secondary distribution;
• Enterprise product TipLink Pro supports token or NFT asset distribution through a single control panel;
• Developer-oriented TipLink Wallet Adapter supports quick wallet integration, allowing users to complete transaction signing with just a Google account.

The rebranded FIN has not disclosed all details but has clarified five core operational logics:

• Using USDC as the base: FIN supports using USDC dollar stablecoin as a settlement medium. Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, demonstrated that seamless connection between USDC corporate accounts and payments, as well as interoperability between fiat and crypto behind the scenes, provides an efficient user experience.
• Focusing on “high-value transactions”: Unlike TipLink’s early focus on small C-end (personal) transfers and many small payment apps targeting retail users, FIN concentrates on high-value institutional transactions, including asset transfers for high-net-worth individuals, import-export trade settlements, and internal cross-border corporate transfers.
• A hub for fiat and digital assets: As Jeremy Allaire said, thanks to the interoperability of fiat and crypto behind the scenes, users can convert fiat to stablecoins for cross-border transfer, and recipients can choose to hold stablecoins or withdraw directly to local bank accounts via FIN’s compliant channels.
• Revenue model? According to Forbes, FIN states its income will come from transaction fees, which will be lower for users compared to alternatives. Additionally, FIN will earn interest income from stablecoins held in the FIN wallet.
• “De-Crypto-ization” experience: Ian Krotinsky openly states that FIN aims to leverage stablecoin advantages while discarding its complexity. Users do not need to understand gas fees, private keys, or on-chain confirmations when using FIN.

Summary

From TipLink’s “link transfer” single-point function to FIN’s “payment platform,” the behind-the-scenes driver is the transformation of Web3 payments from “fun” to “user-friendly” and “commercialized.”

If TipLink allowed users to experience the convenience of “sending money via link,” then FIN aims to make this convenience a daily standard for global commerce.

In an increasingly crowded stablecoin sector, FIN, with its quant DNA, clear institutional positioning, and compatibility with traditional finance, is a long-term player worth watching.

FIN has announced an upcoming pilot project targeting import-export enterprises. For such companies, cross-border payment efficiency directly impacts supply chain turnover, and FIN’s “instant到账” service could further boost industry efficiency.