Original | Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )
Author | Dingdang ( @XiaMiPP )
On March 12, crypto payment company Mesh (full name Mesh Connect, Inc.) announced the completion of a $82 million Series B financing round, led by well-known venture capital firm Paradigm, with participation from several heavyweight institutions including ConsenSys, QuantumLight, and Yolo Investments. It is worth noting that most of this round of financing was settled in PayPals PYUSD stablecoin, highlighting the trend of integration between traditional financial technology and the crypto ecosystem.
This is not only an important milestone in the development of Mesh, but also reflects the recognition of the top capital in the blockchain industry for the prospects of the encrypted payment field. Since its establishment in 2020, Mesh has raised more than US$104 million in total. Its goal is to promote the popularization of digital asset payments through a network connecting encrypted wallets, exchanges and payment service providers.
Business Model
Mesh is a crypto payment company founded in 2020 and headquartered in San Francisco, USA. Its core business model revolves around embedded finance and blockchain payment, aiming to connect traditional finance and crypto ecology through technological innovation. The following is a detailed breakdown of its business model:
1. Core product: payment settlement network
Mesh provides a payment settlement network that allows users to pay with a variety of crypto assets (such as BTC, ETH, SOL), while merchants can choose to receive payments in stablecoins (such as USDC, PYUSD, RLUSD). This design solves the problems of high volatility and low payment efficiency of crypto assets, providing flexibility for users and merchants.
Users pay directly from their crypto wallets through the Mesh network, the system processes transactions in real time, and merchants receive stablecoins, avoiding the risk of price fluctuations. Mesh does not hold user assets, but enables direct transfers from wallet to wallet, emphasizing security and decentralization, while complying with SOC II security standards, enhancing compliance and trust.
2. Embedded Financial Operating System
Mesh has developed an embedded financial operating system that has been integrated with more than 300 fintech platforms (including major crypto exchanges and wallets). This system is not only a payment tool, but also provides functions such as digital asset transfer and account aggregation.
Through a unified API and SDK (supporting Web, iOS, Android and other platforms), Mesh provides partners with plug-and-play solutions, lowering the technical access threshold. Users can seamlessly complete the top-up, payment and conversion of encrypted assets within the cooperation platform without leaving the original interface, which improves the user experience.
3. Income Sources
Although the specific charging model is not disclosed, according to industry practice, Mesh may make profits in the following ways:
Transaction fee: A certain percentage of the fee is charged for each payment or asset conversion.
Platform integration fees: Subscription fees or usage-based charges are charged to partner fintech platforms.
Value-added services: Provide additional functions such as data analysis and compliance support, and charge fees to corporate customers.
Mesh emphasizes the security and compliance of its technical architecture, complies with the SOC II standard (developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to assess data protection capabilities), and has passed multiple independent security audits. This compliance-focused strategy gives it a competitive advantage in the increasingly regulated encryption industry.
Market Positioning
Meshs market positioning in the field of encrypted payments can be summarized as the connection layer of the encrypted ecosystem. Different from a single payment service provider, it focuses on ecological integration and global expansion.
1. Target market: Enterprise and consumer dual-wheel drive
Enterprise side: Mesh provides embedded payment solutions for fintech companies, crypto exchanges, wallet service providers and merchants, helping these platforms quickly expand their crypto payment functions. For example, merchants can accept a variety of crypto assets through Mesh and settle in stablecoins to avoid market risks.
Consumer side: Provide convenient payment channels for users holding encrypted assets, support daily use of mainstream currencies such as BTC and ETH, and promote the practical application of digital assets.
2. Competitive differentiation: connection layer rather than single service provider
CEO Bam Azizi said that he hopes to make crypto payments as simple as credit cards. If this vision is realized, it may open up a new path for the practical application of cryptocurrencies. Unlike BitPay and Coinbase Commerce, which are crypto payment service providers that directly serve merchants, Mesh is more like an infrastructure provider. Its advantages are:
Extensive integration: More than 300 platforms have been connected, covering exchanges, wallets and custody services, forming a huge ecological network.
Stablecoin support: Supports multiple stablecoins (such as PYUSD, USDC), providing merchants with diversified choices and reducing volatility risks.
Embedded experience: By embedding SDK and API into partner platforms, users can complete payment without jumping to external interfaces, which optimizes the usage process.
Of course, Meshs global expansion plan demonstrates its market ambitions, but it faces multiple challenges:
Technical stability and low cost: ensure efficient and stable operation of the network.
Merchant acceptance: Promote more merchants to adopt stablecoin settlement.
Regulatory adaptability: responding to compliance requirements in different regions.
3. Industry positioning: Promoter of stablecoin payment
Mesh takes stablecoin as the core of its business and seizes the trend of rapid growth in the stablecoin market (the global stablecoin market size will exceed US$200 billion in 2025). Its in-depth cooperation with PayPals PYUSD (settled in PYUSD in Series B financing) shows that Mesh is positioned as a bridge between traditional finance and crypto payments, trying to break through the barriers between the two through stablecoins.
Leadership Team: Combination of Technology and Finance
Meshs leadership team consists of professionals with experience in fintech and blockchain.
Bam Azizi , Founder and CEO. Bam Azizi has a solid background in fintech, especially in the development of automated systems. He previously worked at Carta, where he was responsible for designing and implementing automated solutions, and has accumulated rich industry experience and technical capabilities.
Arjun Mukherjee , CTO. Arjun Mukherjee is a technologist with significant influence in Web3 and blockchain technology. He has held key positions at Coinbase and Goldman Sachs, demonstrating his strength at the intersection of fintech and traditional finance. In addition, he is an angel investor and advisor to multiple fintech and Web3 startups. In 2024, he spoke at the Sui Basecamp event, further highlighting his technical leadership in the industry.
The rest of the team comes from a fintech background, and while the exact size of the company has not been made public, the company has nearly 9,000 followers on LinkedIn.
Financing History
Series A financing (September 2023) : US$22 million, led by Money Forward, with participation from Galaxy, Samsung Next, etc., mainly used to enhance platform integration capabilities.
Series B financing (March 2025) : US$82 million, led by Paradigm and supported by ConsenSys and other institutions. The funds will be used for global expansion and technology research and development.
Although Meshs specific valuation has not been made public, the size of its Series B financing and the lineup of investors show a significant improvement in its market position. In particular, the use of PYUSD as the main settlement method has further deepened Meshs ties with traditional fintech companies such as PayPal.
Conclusion
Capital injection represented by Paradigm and ConsenSys not only provides financial support for Mesh, but also casts a vote of confidence in its development direction.
As a company that connects crypto assets with payment scenarios, Meshs exploration reflects the trend of blockchain technology shifting from speculation to practicality. Whether stablecoin payments can become a mainstream breakthrough for cryptocurrencies remains to be verified, but Meshs practice undoubtedly provides an important sample for industry observation.
