Diameter Pay, a company building stablecoin payment infrastructure aimed at broadening worldwide access to the United States dollar, has secured $10 million through a Series A investment round jointly led by CMT Digital and Lightspeed Faction.
Founder and CEO David Lighton mentioned to The Block that this marks Diameter Pay’s initial funding event, as the enterprise operated via bootstrapping prior to this Series A. Lighton stated that the financing was structured as equity, finalized in one single tranche, and that the fundraising campaign kicked off in April before concluding in July, while opting not to disclose the post-money valuation.
Additional participants joining the round comprised SixThirty Ventures, Stellar Development Foundation, Tech Council Ventures, Onigiri Capital, and BitRock Capital.
Established in 2023, Diameter Pay delivers payment frameworks for digital asset exchanges, financial technology firms, and traditional banks. Its system grants users entry to U.S. dollar virtual accounts, local and cross-border transactions, stablecoin conversion gateways, and regulatory oversight facilitated via U.S. banking partners.
Lighton explained that these virtual accounts empower overseas fintech companies to supply U.S. dollar balances to their individual consumers, with Diameter Pay managing compliance and transaction governance behind the scenes. He added that the accounts can likewise link up with stablecoin architectures.
Sponsor banking collaborators encompass Portage Bank and SSB Bank, alongside an unnamed third sponsor bank that operates as a publicly traded corporation, according to Lighton, who noted that extra banking institutions are currently in the onboarding phase.
“When a sponsor bank partners with us, they are allowing us to use their access to the USD clearing infrastructure, and in exchange, they get fee revenue and low-cost deposits,” Lighton expressed.
Diameter Pay commenced transaction processing for foreign banking institutions back in 2024. Lighton indicated that the concept originated from his tenure with the World Bank in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake, where his work centered around remittances and the developmental influence of international money transfers.
Expanding access to the US dollar
Diameter Pay noted that although the U.S. dollar persists as the bedrock of international commerce and payments, gaining entry to it has grown progressively harder across numerous global regions. Correspondent banks have retreated from entire territories amid mounting sanctions and anti-money laundering regulations, the startup remarked, pointing out that this dynamic creates a global monetary environment where lawful enterprises can find themselves excluded alongside the malicious entities those guardrails aim to block.
Diameter Pay reported handling upwards of $10 billion in transaction volume throughout the year up to this point. Its customer base features “some of the largest privately owned fintech companies in the world and various banks across multiple financial hubs including Switzerland, Singapore, and others,” according to Lighton, who refrained from disclosing exact client names.
Lighton stated that Diameter Pay holds registration as a money services business and a money transmitter within New Jersey. The enterprise generates revenue by levying transaction fees and marketing directly to financial entities that integrate their customer bases onto the network, he continued, adding that Diameter Pay currently supports more than 10,000 active end users.
Diameter Pay outlined that the capital will serve to scale its banking and transaction features, strengthen its foreign exchange and stablecoin architecture, and sustain investments in compliance technology and tools dedicated to international dollar movement.
As an outcome of the Series A financing, CMT Digital secured a seat on the board, whereas Lightspeed Faction and SixThirty Ventures obtained observer positions, Lighton specified. He further noted that Robert Pozen, who previously served as president of Fidelity Investments, acts as a senior advisor to the board.
Diameter Pay maintains a workforce of 20 individuals, featuring a primary contingent situated in the U.S. alongside supplementary teams stationed in Argentina, Poland, and Nigeria. The startup is presently seeking to recruit a chief technology officer and a chief commercial officer.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/deals/2026-09-03-diameter-pay-funding-stablecoin-payments-infrastructure-413454.
