This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe . There’s a new project in town. StableSea, founded by a group of ex-Block employees, have built a way to provide global stablecoin offramping. So, basically, a firm comes to them and asks them to convert stablecoins to the local fiat. Right now, they’re focused on payment processors, banks and neobanks. StableSea has raised $3.5 million in a round led by Kindred Ventures, with participation from DFS Lab and Ludlow Ventures. The firm’s fairly new, and by that I mean that they launched in January 2025. Tanner Taddeo, CEO of StableSea, told me that they set out to solve a clear issue — something we love to hear in crypto. “When you actually go deep into the operations with companies as to why they’re using stablecoin, it’s really that if you use the correspondent banking system today to move money between [for example] J.P. Morgan in the US and Lloyds Bank in London,” two things happen: A message is sent between the two via Swift, and then the two have to reconcile their privately-held ledgers. The use of stablecoins not only speeds up the time during which the transfer can take place, but simplifies and cheapens it, too. If this isn’t catching your eye, that’s okay; Taddeo told me some of the use cases they’ve seen are “brilliantly boring.” StableSea plans to utilize the recently raised funds to grow, and Taddeo told me that they’d consider another raise either later this year or early next year, but they’re “set for a few years.” So any possible raises in the future will just be the firm striking “when the iron is hot.” Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters: Blockworks Daily : The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam. Empire : Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto. Forward Guidance : Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance. 0xResearch : Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more. Lightspeed : Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks. The Drop : For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
