NALA has secured a $50M credit facility from Liquidity through Mars Growth Capital, its joint venture with MUFG Bank, to scale stablecoin payment corridors across the US, Europe, Africa, and Asia
Founder Benjamin Fernandes applied to Y Combinator five times, was rejected four times, got in on his fifth attempt, then received a government shutdown order from Tanzania’s central bank days later
The global stablecoin payment infrastructure market stood at $7.6B in 2025 and is projected to reach $89.4B by 2034, growing at a 32.1% CAGR, according to Research Intelo
The day Benjamin Fernandes finally got into Y Combinator – on his fifth application, after four rejections – Tanzania’s central bank ordered him to shut his company down. Most founders would have taken the hint. Fernandes did the layoffs, ran out of money, and started again from scratch.
NALA, the New York-headquartered global stablecoin payments company founded in 2018 byBenjamin Fernandes, has secured a credit facility of up to $50M from Liquidity through Mars Growth Capital, its joint venture with Japan’s MUFG Bank. The initial commitment is $25M, structured to scale alongside NALA’s transaction volumes. Total equity funding to date stands at $50M, following a $40M Series A in July 2024 led by Acrew Capital, with participation from DST Global, Norrsken22, HOF Capital, Amplo, and angel investors including Vlad Tenev of Robinhood and Ryan King of Chime. NALA pursued debt financing this time deliberately, the company says it still holds more than half of the capital from its 2024 equity round, making non-dilutive working capital the smarter next step.
