Crypto Payments Firm Merge Raises $9.5M From Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research and Others

London-based cryptocurrency payments firm Merge has raised a $9.5 million seed round led by Octopus Ventures, as well as COINBASE Ventures, Alameda Research and Hashed.

• Other investors include founders of Aave, Polygon, the CEO of LEDGER and the former CEO of Barclays Consumer Banking.
• Merge plans to deploy the capital to ensure that cryptocurrency companies can make payments and work with traditional financial services in a more efficient way.
• "As the crypto economy moves further into the mainstream, it's increasingly clear that the current financial infrastructure isn't fit to serve the rapid expansion of crypto-native businesses and many providers aren't specialized enough to gauge risk," Zihao Xu, investor at Octopus Ventures, said.
• Merge will not only focus on holding and transferring fiat funds for crypto and Web 3 companies, but will also manage compliance through its API.
• The firm shared with CoinDesk that it has several clients lined up, with an announcement expected this quarter.
• Despite a recent market downturn, venture capitalists are continuing to invest in the cryptocurrency industry, with Andreessen Horowitz raising $4.5 billion for a new crypto fund on Wednesday.
• "We see it as a temporary blip," Merge co-founder Kebbie Sebastian told CoinDesk on the current market. "The fundamental potential of cryptocurrency remains the same despite market volatility."