Key Takeaways
- M0 secured $40 million in Series B funding led by Polychain and Ribbit Capital.
- The startup aims to build a shared network for stablecoin issuers to ensure interoperability and liquidity.
- M0 has raised nearly $100 million so far and plans rapid scaling before focusing on profitability.
$40 Million for a New Stablecoin Infrastructure Layer
M0, a crypto startup focused on stablecoin infrastructure, announced on Thursday it raised $40 million in Series B funding. The round was led by crypto venture capital firm Polychain and fintech investor Ribbit Capital. Other participants included Endeavor Catalyst, Pantera, and Bain Capital Crypto.
This latest raise brings M0’s total funding to nearly $100 million, though the company did not disclose its valuation. The round included equity and locked token allocations, which cannot be sold until after a set period.
The goal behind this funding is simply to build the backbone for a unified stablecoin ecosystem. “We cannot have 1,000 different Tethers and Circles,” said M0 cofounder and CEO Luca Prosperi, referring to the two largest stablecoin issuers. “What we did is create a layer where different issuers can come and connect and just ensure interoperability and liquidity among themselves.”
Why Stablecoins Are Attracting Big Money
Stablecoins have become one of the most closely watched sectors in crypto. These tokens, pegged to assets like the U.S. dollar, now draw attention from both investors and regulators.
In June, Circle, the second-largest stablecoin issuer after Tether, went public with a valuation topping $30 billion. The following month, the Genius Act became law, creating the first U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins.
Big Tech and major banks are also exploring the sector. Meta, Airbnb, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America are looking at stablecoin integrations for payments and financial services.
“This is one of the hotter areas within the market, within all of fintech, frankly,” said Josh Rosenthal, general partner at Polychain.
Proponents see stablecoins as the base layer for faster, cheaper global payments, replacing traditional systems like SWIFT.
M0’s Mission: The “Layer Zero” of Money
M0 calls itself the “layer zero” of money. Its network allows stablecoin issuers to deploy tokens without building the infrastructure themselves.
The platform handles the complexities of transferring assets across blockchains like Ethereum or Solana. It also enables seamless swaps between different stablecoins, such as Circle’s USDC and PayPal’s PYUSD.
The startup’s name reflects its goal. Anything to the power of zero equals one, like the one-to-one peg of a stablecoin to a dollar.
The Team Behind M0
CEO Luca Prosperi spent years in traditional finance, including roles at Morgan Stanley. He began working with stablecoins while advising MakerDAO, a decentralised project behind the DAI stablecoin.
In 2023, Prosperi teamed up with Gregory Di Prisco, another MakerDAO veteran, to launch M0. Their experience shaped the company’s focus on infrastructure rather than direct consumer-facing products.
M0 operates at a lower level of the technology stack than many stablecoin firms. For example, Bridge, a stablecoin startup acquired by Stripe, focused on applications. M0 builds the network underneath.
Growth First, Profit Later
Right now, profitability is not M0’s priority. Prosperi compares the approach to Uber’s early days—scale first, then monetize.
“My mandate as a CEO in the next two to five years is to scale this network as much as possible,” he said. “This is the obsession.”
That means onboarding as many stablecoin issuers as possible. One early partner is MetaMask, the popular crypto wallet, which recently launched its stablecoin in collaboration with M0.
The more issuers M0 brings in, the more valuable its network becomes for liquidity and interoperability.
What the Funding Means for the Market
With nearly $100 million in total funding, M0 is positioned to influence how stablecoins interact across ecosystems. Its focus on infrastructure could solve one of the sector’s biggest challenges: fragmentation.
By offering a shared base layer, M0 hopes to make stablecoins easier to issue, transfer, and integrate into mainstream finance.
For now, the company will keep scaling its network, adding issuers, and refining its technology stack. The $40 million Series B gives it the resources to push ahead in a sector attracting attention from Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and Washington alike.
