Stablecoin Payment Startup Rain Raises $250 Million, Valuation Near $2 Billion, Dragonfly Partner Haseeb Qureshi Optimistic About Global Adoption of Stablecoin Payment Cards
(Background: Visa Announces Support for Four Stablecoins, Cross-Chain Conversion to 25 Currencies)
(Additional Context: Dragonfly Partner: AI Agents Are Just Meme Coin Chatbots, Will Ultimately Fade Away)

Table of Contents

• Rain Raises $250 Million, Valuation Approaches $2 Billion
• Questions Remain in Developed Markets
• Ongoing Progress in Stablecoin Regulation

Industry leaders highlight that stablecoin-driven payment cards are becoming one of the most important crypto themes by 2026. These cards aim to retain the advantages of blockchain technology while providing consumers with a familiar payment experience.

Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at crypto venture firm Dragonfly, posted on X on Friday:

One of the major themes of 2026: crypto is becoming more deeply integrated into the global economic payment processes.

Rain Raises $250 Million, Valuation Near $2 Billion

Qureshi stated, “Stablecoin cards are exploding worldwide,” following Rain’s completion of a $250 million funding round, which pushed Rain’s valuation close to $2 billion.

The background of this massive funding is that in 2025, Rain grew its active card count by 30 times, with annualized payment transaction volume increasing nearly 40 times, making it one of the fastest-growing fintech companies globally. The platform supports major stablecoins including Tether (USDT) and USDC across multiple blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Solana, Tron, and Stellar.

Qureshi pointed out that Rain is part of a new wave of stablecoin startups integrating blockchain into payment systems, offering faster settlement, lower costs, and broader global reach, while providing consumers with a seamless experience:

They don’t even realize the underlying is crypto technology. They just know that suddenly, they can pay anyone, anywhere, with dollars at any time, and everything just “works.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg Intelligence forecasted on Thursday that stablecoin payment traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 81%, reaching $56.6 trillion by 2030.

Developed Markets Still Have Skeptics

However, not everyone believes stablecoin payments can challenge traditional credit cards in developed countries. Sheel Mohnot, General Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures, said that stablecoin merchants lack a fixed audience, exclusivity, and a killer feature that can bring substantial change.

Mason Nystrom, investor at Pantera Capital, countered Mohnot’s view, emphasizing that stablecoin payments provide merchants with instant payouts, real-time settlement, and chargeback protection:

The stablecoin track is disrupting the entire fintech stack. Some existing players will adopt it, others will be completely replaced. Stablecoin checkout will be huge.

Ongoing Progress in Stablecoin Regulation

The passage of the US GENIUS Act seems to have injected momentum into regulation at the end of last year, with Canada and the UK also stepping up efforts to implement stablecoin frameworks in 2026 or soon thereafter.

Institutional adoption is accelerating as well. Remittance platform Western Union plans to launch a stablecoin settlement system on the Solana blockchain in the first half of 2026, along with stablecoin cards, enabling consumers to spend in emerging markets.