Tether, the crypto company behind the most popular USDT stablecoin, said Thursday that it has invested in Ark Labs to bring programmable payments to the Bitcoin network.
The support was part of a $5.2 million funding round for the startup. Ark Labs develops Arkade, a system that aims to enable faster transactions and the creation of applications on Bitcoin. With this new funding, the startup said it has raised approximately $7.7 million in total.
The project aims to make Bitcoin usable for payments and financial tools that often require faster settlement and automation. Arkade acts as a runtime layer that developers can use to build services such as payment networks, lending tools, and digital asset platforms.
“Bitcoin is the world’s most liquid digital asset, but it lacks the programmable infrastructure that financial applications need,” said Marco Argentieri, CEO of Ark Labs. “Arkade wants to change that,” he added.
Tether said the funding would help expand the infrastructure that could support stablecoins on top of Bitcoin. Stablecoins are digital tokens tied to fiat currencies such as the US dollar and often move across other blockchains like Ethereum or Tron.
“Stablecoins were born on Bitcoin, and expanding access to the Bitcoin network remains a priority for us,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement.
The investment is part of Tether’s efforts to expand beyond its stablecoin issuing roots and improve the usage of its $185 billion USDT digital token. Last month, the company invested in online marketplace Whop and cross-chain protocol LayerZero.
