Blockchain payment firm Wyre receives $5 million investment from Stellar Development Foundation

Investments • January 26, 2021, 12:32PM EST
The Block

Today, the Stellar Development Foundation announced Tuesday that it invested $5 million in Wyre.

The SDF told The Block that the funding effort was a Series B2 funding round, with the foundation leading for $5 million. Draper Associates and Great Oaks Venture Capital invested an additional $2.5 million.

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The funds are intended to help broaden fintech payment API options for Stellar. By adding Wyre to its ecosystem, Stellar intends to expand its USDC on/off ramps with pairs for USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, and AUS as well as boost its overall support infrastructure.

“Growing the network of Stellar anchors — stablecoin issuers and on/off ramps — is fundamental to how Stellar connects global financial systems with blockchain technology,” Denelle Dixon, Stellar’s CEO and executive director, said in a statement.

Dixon also recently filled Stellar’s new board seat. “Bringing Wyre’s industry-leading payment APIs to the Stellar ecosystem will empower businesses, especially anchors, to expand existing payment corridors and develop new ones.”

About Author

MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020 — joining just before bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, covering any and all crypto news but with a penchant toward NFT, metaverse, web3 gaming, funding, crime, hack and crypto ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. You can follow MK on X @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.