Coinbase, Sony and Samsung Back $14.6M Round for Stablecoin Startup Bastion

Stablecoin infrastructure startup Bastion has raised $14.6 million in a new funding round led by Coinbase Ventures, the company said in a press release shared with CoinDesk, bringing its total funding to over $40 million.Bastion builds white-label stablecoin systems that let companies issue digital dollars without writing code or applying for regulatory licenses. The round included participation from the venture arms of Sony and Samsung, as well as Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto division and Hashed.The startup is led by Nassim Eddequiouaq, a former Meta and a16z crypto executive who worked on Libra, Meta’s now-defunct stablecoin project. Eddequiouaq said Bastion’s product suite goes beyond simple issuance: it includes wallets for users and off-ramps that allow conversion to cash in over 70 countries.The valuation of this latest funding round wasn’t revealed, and the company raised $25 million back in 2023 in a round led by a16z crypto.The company said it’s seeing particular traction in Asia, where demand from enterprise customers is rising. The fresh funding will support product expansion and hiring. Bastion has also recently added new leadership across compliance, treasury, legal and revenue, the company said.That positions Bastion to compete with firms like Paxos and newer players like Agora. The firm declined to name which corporations are currently using its platform, but Eddequiouaq said announcements are coming within the next nine months.The funding comes amid a broader stablecoin boom. Stripe recently acquired stablecoin startup Bridge for $1.1 billion, USDC issuer Circle went public over the summer, while leading stablecoin issuer Tether is reportedly looking to raise up to $20 billion at a valuation that could be as high as $500 billion.UPDATE (Sept. 24, 13:58 UTC): Updated story to add that Bastion said it's seeing traction in Asia and details the use of funds.