Notabene Raises $14.5M in Series B Funding Led by DRW VC to Drive the Future of Stablecoins and Payments

The rapid adoption of Notabene's crypto payment authorization network, which has seen transaction volumes surge 10X in the past year, reflects the growing demand for compliant crypto payment solutions. This Series B round will help Notabene bring secure, transparent, and compliant crypto payments to more financial institutions, paving the way for stablecoins to revolutionize global finance.

NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Notabene, a leading provider of cryptocurrency compliance solutions, today announced it has raised $14.5 million in a Series B funding round led by DRW VC, with participation from funds managed by Apollo, NextBlock, ParaFi Capital, and Wintermute, along with existing investors CMT Digital, F-Prime, Green Visor Capital, Illuminate Financial, Jump Capital, Signature Ventures, and Y Combinator. The funding will accelerate Notabene's mission to make crypto payments a part of the everyday global economy by fostering open, secure, and compliant transactions.

Regulators now require crypto companies such as exchanges, wallet providers, and payment processors to securely exchange information about sender and receiver, just like they already do in traditional payments. This so-called Travel Rule is now a requirement in most global financial centers.

Having already helped process half a trillion dollars worth of transactions, Notabene is the leading global platform and network for compliant crypto payments. By automating the secure transfer of sensitive data between institutions, Notabene simplifies this complex process that is virtually impossible for companies to implement independently.

Kimberly Trautmann, Partner and Head of DRW VC, the round's lead investor, emphasized the significance of Notabene's work in this emerging financial ecosystem:

"Notabene offers a comprehensive and efficient way to track and disclose who an asset is being sent to, which is critical for those who facilitate the exchange, transfer, safekeeping, and administration of virtual assets (Virtual Asset Service Partners or VASPs) and need to be compliant with the Travel Rule. We believe Notabene is positioned to be the provider-of-choice, as it allows users to achieve real-time compliance, is protocol agnostic and does not require exposing sensitive information to other market participants."

Notabene is expanding its focus to support the growing number of traditional financial institutions moving into digital payments. With over $20T in stablecoin transactions processed last year, global adoption is on the rise and poised to be crypto's long-awaited killer use case. The key to unlocking stablecoins' potential as fast, low-cost, borderless payments is a secure and transparent system – one that's open and not controlled by any single entity. Notabene offers the essential infrastructure for compliance, reconciliation, and safety, enabling open, interoperable payment networks that will drive the next wave of adoption.

Notabene's CEO, Pelle Brændgaard, underscores the company's vision for the future of payments:

"We've already established ourselves as a pioneer in Travel Rule compliance, and now, as regulatory clarity grows and adoption scales, we are positioned to do the same for payments. By enabling secure, compliant, and open digital asset transactions, we're helping shape the next generation of global financial infrastructure. Our philosophy of building open networks to maximize reachability between transacting counterparties will be a key driver of adoption with both crypto-native organizations, as well as incumbent players in traditional finance that are showing an increased interest in digital assets and blockchain payment solutions."

Notabene's platform has seen a rapid 10x increase in transaction volumes over the past year, totaling nearly $500 billion in transaction volume—solidifying the company's role as a trusted provider in the compliance space. With over 165 companies using the platform, including some of the largest virtual asset service providers (VASPs) globally such as Copper, Crypto.com, OKX, and Ramp, as well as working relationships with regulatory bodies across hundreds of global jurisdictions, Notabene has built the largest network of transacting counterparties in the market today.

Alexander Ross, General Partner, Head of NYC for investor Illuminate Financial, added:

"As the existing market leader for Travel Rule compliance, we believe Notabene has the potential to become the "SWIFT network for blockchain transactions." There is a desperate need for a secure network to share all transaction metadata. This will enable compliance with global regulations and is a key pillar to unlocking mass adoption of stablecoins for payments. We have been working with the founders since 2021 and believe they are the best positioned to execute this vision."

With this raise, Notabene is set to continue its mission to bring crypto and stablecoins into everyday global payments. It will help grow the industry's only open compliant payments network to support more use cases and new market entrants.

"With $20 trillion in stablecoin transactions processed last year, stablecoins are emerging as the preferred method for fast, low-cost global payments," said Pelle Brændgaard, Notabene CEO. "As regulatory clarity expands, traditional financial institutions are beginning to recognize stablecoins' potential. Notabene's role as a trusted compliance provider is critical to unlocking this potential and establishing stablecoins as a legitimate payment medium worldwide."

About Notabene

Notabene is the leading crypto payment authorization network, enabling secure, transparent, and compliant transactions for financial institutions around the world. With a platform that facilitates transactions in over 80 jurisdictions, supports over 165 companies, and has processed half a trillion dollars in transaction volume, Notabene is setting the standard for compliant transactions in the digital asset space.

For more information, please visit Notabene.id.

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