Three Titans Bet $17 Million, FIN Makes Strong Move into Cross-Border Payments

By: blockbeats|2025/12/26 10:00:01
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Original Title: "Pantera, Sequoia, Samsung Join Forces to Bet, Will FIN Take Over Traditional Banks' Territory?"
Original Author: KarenZ, Foresight News

In the current global financial system, large-scale cross-border transfers still suffer from the issues of "slow processing, high fees, and cumbersome procedures." A startup named FIN is leveraging stablecoins to tackle this pain point head-on, attempting to reshape the industry status quo.

Founded by two former Citadel employees, FIN is not playing small in the fringes but is building a large-value payment rail through stablecoin technology, aiming to provide enterprises and high-net-worth individuals with instant, efficient cross-border transfer experiences.

In early December 2025, FIN announced the completion of a $17 million financing round, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Sequoia and Samsung Next. The capital endorsement highlights its runway potential.

So, what kind of product is FIN exactly? What is its background? How will it operate and land in the future? This article will take you on a journey to explore these questions.

FIN's Core Positioning

Many people's first impression of this team comes from its predecessor TipLink—a lightweight tool that supports the transmission of encrypted assets via URL links, supports the Solana network, and is feeless.

However, under the new name FIN, the goal has been elevated to be a "global payment app challenging traditional banks," focusing on meeting the multimillion-dollar large-value transfer needs of users and businesses, supporting transfers to other FIN users, direct deposits to bank accounts, or circulation through cryptocurrency channels in diverse scenarios.

FIN CEO Ian Krotinsky clearly stated in an interview with Fortune magazine that the company's core goal is to build the "future of payment apps": leveraging the technical advantages of stablecoins while stripping away their complex professional barriers, achieving barrier-free global use.

This positioning aligns well with the current trend in the stablecoin race.

Core Team: Quantitative Genes + Pain Point Drive

One of FIN's key 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 served as a quantitative investment portfolio manager and trader at a top hedge fund Citadel from 2016 to 2022, and previously worked as a programmatic trader at Goldman Sachs.

· FIN Co-Founder and CTO Aashiq Dheeraj: Former Quantitative Researcher at Citadel Securities from 2018 to 2022.

According to Fortune magazine, the two worked together at Citadel and often used evenings and weekends to develop various hacking projects, including a Reddit-like platform where users would receive a $50 reward if their post made it to the front page. It was this experience that made them acutely aware of the inefficiency and high cost of traditional cross-border transfers, ultimately deciding to leverage blockchain technology to address this industry pain point.

According to the FIN website, the team members also have backgrounds from companies such as Google, Meta, Uber, and leading U.S. digital bank Chime.

Funding Journey

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

Close to 3 years later, on December 3, 2025, FIN announced the completion of a $17 million Series A funding round, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital (Sequoia Capital) and Samsung's investment arm Samsung Next. Several industry veterans, including Helius CEO Mert, Bridge CEO Zach Abrams from Stripe's stablecoin infrastructure company, Ellipsis Labs Co-Founder Jarry Xiao, and Tensor Co-Founder Richard Wu, joined as angel investors.

From TipLink to FIN: How Does the Project Work?

As mentioned earlier, FIN was formerly known as TipLink. TipLink is a lightweight wallet, with its key innovation being that the link itself serves as a non-custodial wallet, currently supporting only the Solana network and charging no fees.

TipLink has built a mature lightweight payment ecosystem:

· Regular users can log in via Web3 wallets or Google accounts, create a TipLink, share it via any platform such as SMS, Discord, or email, and recipients can activate the wallet automatically by logging in with Gmail, enabling asset holding, transfer, or redistribution;

· Enterprise-grade product TipLink Pro supports the distribution of tokens or NFT assets through a single control panel;

· Developer-focused TipLink Wallet Adapter supports seamless wallet integration, allowing users to sign transactions with just a Google account.

Although the reshaped FIN has not disclosed all the details, it has clearly defined five core operational logics:

· Based on the stablecoin USDC: FIN supports the use of the USDC stablecoin as a settlement medium. Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, stated in a demo of FIN's launch that the seamless connection between USDC corporate accounts and payments, as well as the interoperability of fiat and cryptocurrency in the background, brings an efficient user experience.

· Focus on "High-Value Transactions": Unlike TipLink's early focus on low-value transfers for retail consumers and many small payment apps targeting retail consumers, FIN is focused on high-value institutional transactions. Use cases include asset transfers for high-net-worth individuals, import/export trade settlements, cross-border corporate internal transfers, and more.

· Hub for Fiat and Digital Assets: As Jeremy Allaire mentioned, thanks to the interoperability of fiat and cryptocurrency in the background, users can convert fiat to stablecoin for cross-border transfers. The recipient can choose to hold the stablecoin or cash out directly to a local bank account through FIN's compliance channels.

· Where Does Revenue Come From? According to Fortune magazine, FIN indicates that its revenue will come from fees, but these fees will be lower for users compared to other alternative solutions. Additionally, FIN will also generate revenue through interest income on stablecoins held in the FIN wallet.

· "De-Crypto" Experience: Ian Krotinsky explicitly stated that FIN aims to leverage the advantages of stablecoins while eschewing their complexity. When using FIN, users do not need to understand concepts like gas fees, private keys, or on-chain confirmations.

Conclusion

From TipLink's "Link Transfer" as a single-point feature to FIN's "Payment Platform," the Web3 payment track is evolving from "fun" to "useful" and "commercially viable."

If TipLink has brought the convenience of "sending money through a link" to users, then FIN aims to make this convenience the daily standard for global business trade.

In the increasingly crowded stablecoin field, FIN stands out as a player worth long-term attention due to its team's quantitative genetics, clear institutional positioning, and compatibility with traditional finance.

FIN has revealed plans to launch a pilot project targeting import and export enterprises. For such enterprises, cross-border payment efficiency directly impacts supply chain turnover, and FIN's "instant settlement" service may further drive efficiency in the cross-border payment industry.

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