London FinTech Fiat Republic Nets $3.5M in Funding

Fiat Republic, a startup that helps cryptocurrency platforms build tools to process fiat currencies from financial institutions, has closed on $3.5 million in seed funding, the London-based company announced Wednesday (Feb. 2).

Financing was led by Speedinvest, Seedcamp and Credo, European Union (EU) technology investors.

The seven-month-old company said the funds will be used to add staff to its 14-person team and accelerate regulatory approvals in the United Kingdom and the EU.

Fiat Republic said it is building a compliance first, eMoney regulated banking and payment application programming interface (API) that pledges to reduce the time and cost of processing fiat currencies for crypto platforms, at the consumer and corporate treasury levels.

While the crypto sector is booming, crypto platforms are struggling to access routine transaction banking services and typically pay high-priced risk premiums instead of assurances of security and compliance.

To address the challenge, Fiat Republic launched a banking-as-a-service business model designed to include fiat and crypto compliance to give crypto platforms access to mainstream and local payments networks with a single API.

The company’s latest funding round as the United Kingdom has upped its influence on the country’s cryptocurrency sector with the launch of a bipartisan group of lawmakers intent on regulating the budding digital currency market.

See more: UK Edges Closer to Crypto Regulation With New Parliament Panel

Named the Crypto and Digital Assets Group, it includes members from Parliament as well as the House of Lords. Its mission is to craft new rules for the digital asset industry that support innovation, said Lisa Cameron, a member of the Scottish National Party.

“We are at a crucial time for the sector as global policymakers are also now reviewing their approach to crypto and how it should be regulated,” said Cameron, the group’s chairwoman.