• Index Ventures led the $47.5 million Series A; GV, Blackbird, Square Peg and Capital49 joined, taking total funding to $80 million [1][2].
  • Airwallex will build on Alta and link its stablecoin pay-ins and pay-outs and local fiat rails in about 200 countries to the chain [2].
  • Alta's first product aims at liquidity tied up in prefunded accounts, which it estimates at about $4 trillion globally [2][3].

Alta, a startup building a blockchain for regulated financial institutions, has raised a $47.5 million Series A led by Index Ventures, The Block reported on Tuesday, Nov. 10 [1]. GV, Alphabet's venture arm, joined along with Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg and Capital49, bringing total funding to $80 million including an earlier $32.5 million seed round [1][2]. The company did not disclose a valuation [1][3].

Alta was co-founded by CEO Loong Wang, President Catherine Porter and Airwallex co-founder and CEO Jack Zhang [2]. Wang previously founded Republic Protocol, later Ren, which Alameda Research acquired in 2021; Porter is a former Meta executive who worked on its abandoned crypto project, crypto.news reported [3]. The company, formerly called Metal, has about 25 staff across San Francisco and Melbourne [3].

What Alta is building

Alta is a Layer 1 blockchain that uses recursive zero-knowledge cryptography so institutions can keep balances, transactions, identities and compliance policies private while still proving rules are met [2][3]. "Existing blockchains aren't designed for the privacy and compliance requirements of global financial institutions," Wang said [1].

Its first product targets money that businesses hold in prefunded accounts to make cross-border payments, which Alta puts at about $4 trillion globally; it offers just-in-time funding, foreign exchange and moving idle cash into yield-bearing tokenized assets [2][3]. Airwallex is an early design partner and will connect stablecoin pay-ins and pay-outs and local fiat networks across about 200 countries and 90 currencies [2]. Alta did not give a launch date [1][3].

Zhang wrote in June 2025 that "crypto is more like a religion than technology" [3]. In the funding announcement he said stablecoins "are becoming an important vector for settlement" with the rise of agentic banking and programmable payments [3]. The round lands the same week Goldman Sachs, Citi and other banks committed $270 million to a bank-backed stablecoin venture (MLQ.ai coverage).

Companies mentioned

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