Tether leads $15 million funding round for AI-focused payment startup Mural
The Series A round, which included participation from North Island Ventures and existing investors, brings New York-based Mural's total funding to $28 million.
Tether led a $15 million funding round in Mural, expanding the stablecoin issuer’s investments in technology that enables AI agents to handle payments.
The Series A round, which included participation from North Island Ventures and existing investors, brings New York-based Mural's total funding to $28 million, according to an emailed announcement on Tuesday.
Mural, founded by former Palantir (PLTR) engineers, provides fintechs and other platforms with infrastructure for managing accounts, payments, identity verification and regulatory compliance across traditional banking networks and blockchains. Its customers include payroll platform Deel and browser developer Opera.
The funding comes as financial technology companies explore “agentic finance,” in which AI systems can initiate and execute transactions on behalf of individuals or businesses.
Mural's infrastructure allows companies to set transaction limits, restrict counterparties and require additional approvals for larger payments, addressing questions around authorization and accountability when autonomous software moves money.
“As agents start moving money, that connection to the banks, payment networks and compliance systems the world still runs on becomes essential,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in the statement.
The investment reflects Tether's growing interest in infrastructure beyond stablecoin issuance, particularly as programmable payments emerge as a potential use case for AI-powered financial services.
Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.
Asanat Analysis — Why it matters
Tether's participation in Mural's Series A signals growing appetite among stablecoin issuers to embed themselves in payment infrastructure layers. Rather than remaining passive reserve operators, Tether is actively building optionality in the AI-payments stack—a logical extension given stablecoins' utility as settlement rails. This mirrors Tether's prior moves into mining and infrastructure, suggesting a thesis that payment efficiency directly benefits USDT utility and circulation.
The $15M check also reflects broader sector capital patterns: AI + payments remains well-capitalized despite macro noise, with total funding now at $28M indicating institutional conviction in Mural's model. North Island Ventures' participation adds traditional VC credibility. However, the absence of major crypto-native VCs in reported participants hints that payment innovation may increasingly flow through Silicon Valley gatekeepers rather than protocol treasuries—a structural shift worth monitoring for who controls narrative and distribution in this space.
For Tether specifically, this is defensive optionality: ensuring stablecoins remain embedded in next-gen payment UX rather than risk USDC or other competitors capturing that layer. The timing (2026) coincides with accelerating AI agent economies where efficient micropayments matter at scale.