SBI's $68M Fasset cheque buys licensed corridors, and warrants to buy more
The $1 billion mark is the least informative number in this round. SBI's own statement points at warrants, equity-method consolidation and a remittance business that needs cheaper settlement.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- Fasset raised $68 million in a Series C led by SBI Group, valuing the stablecoin neobank at $1 billion.
- The raise follows a $51 million Series B in May and takes Fasset's 2026 total to $119 million, with early backer Speedinvest joining.
- SBI says it will exercise warrants after the round closes and expects Fasset to become an equity-method affiliate of the group.
- The two firms plan to run a digital bank in Malaysia together and to distribute Fasset-issued tokens.
- SBI already holds stakes in Ripple, Circle and Morpho and owns liquidity provider B2C2.
Why it matters
- What doesn't add up contradiction Both publishers call this an SBI-led $68 million round, but SBI's own statement sizes neither its cheque nor its resulting holding, so the word 'led' carries no known amount.
- What's now possible capability SBI Remit's existing payout footprint gets a settlement layer that is already approved in the destination markets, turning new corridors into a routing exercise rather than a licensing one.
- What it limits constraint Anyone chasing the same corridors needs local approvals plus Shariah-compliant product design, which is a regulatory queue that capital alone does not shorten.
- Who's exposed exposure Minority holders in this round are priced against a $1 billion print while the largest shareholder holds options to buy more, which sets the terms of any later exit for everyone else.
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Warrants plus equity-method accounting describe a staged purchase rather than a financing. The Series C sets a public reference price, the option strip that follows sets the price at which SBI actually moves from investor to affiliate, and only the first of those two is on the record [1][16]. Anyone marking this round at a $1 billion valuation is marking the number against which the next tranche will be measured.
What the money reaches is a set of permissions. Fasset was among the first firms licensed by Dubai's VARA in 2023 and has since secured approvals in Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkiye and Malaysia [6], with Shariah-compliant products tied to stablecoins, gold, equities and sukuk in several of those markets [19]. SBI Remit already touches roughly 470,000 locations and sends bank transfers to about 200 countries [9]. A payout network that wide does not need more cash-out points; it needs cheaper settlement into destinations it already serves, which is the practical reading of chairman Yoshitaka Kitao's stated aim of connecting Japan to faster-growing economies across Asia, the Middle East and Africa [13]. Cointelegraph notes in a related item that SBI bought Singapore's Coinhako after MAS approval [21]. The group has been acquiring regulatory permission rather than queuing for it.
The pricing is worth sizing against flow rather than against comparable rounds. Fasset reports more than $40 billion in annualized transaction volume, over 3 million wallets and more than 1,000 enterprise customers across 125 countries [7][11], so the $1 billion mark works out to about 2.5 cents per dollar of annual flow [22]. That volume figure stood at $32 billion at the May Series B, meaning roughly $8 billion, or 25 percent, was added to the run rate in under three months [18][3]. Co-founder and CEO Mohammad Raafi Hossain says revenue has grown about 6x year over year and the company has been profitable for twelve consecutive months, without disclosing absolute revenue or profit [12]. Gross settled volume is therefore the only number an outsider can size, and gross volume is not margin.
Proceeds go to Own Network, which Fasset describes as a regulated Ethereum layer-2 built on Arbitrum technology linking banks, telecom operators, payment firms and liquidity providers across more than 100 banking corridors [2], plus routing systems that choose paths on cost, speed and availability [5]. Read alongside SBI's other recent commitments, the sequencing is legible: $76 million for EDX Markets on 7 July, $125 million for Gauntlet two days later, and now Fasset, roughly $269 million across three led Series C rounds [20][23]. Trading venue, risk engine, settlement front end. The last of those is the one with retail wallets and local licences attached, and it is the only one that can put a Japanese remitter's yen into a Karachi or Jakarta account without a new approval process [6][10].
What to watch
- Whether SBI Holdings discloses warrant terms and its resulting percentage when Fasset appears as an equity-method affiliate in its accounts.
- Whether the Malaysian joint bank files for its own licence or launches under Fasset's existing approval, and on what date.
- Any absolute revenue or profit figure from Fasset once consolidation pulls it into SBI's reporting.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption57
- Hype gap+24
- Incentives74
- Confidence66
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers- Builder
- Builder 24%
- Operator
- Operator 31%
- Investor
- Investor 45%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Fasset raised $68 million in a Series C funding round led by Japan's SBI Group at a $1 billion valuation.
- [2]
Fasset said the capital will expand Own Network, which it describes as a regulated Ethereum layer-2 blockchain built on Arbitrum technology connecting banks, telecom companies, payment firms and liquidity providers across more than 100 banking corridors.
- [3]
The round pushed Fasset into unicorn territory less than three months after its previous raise.
- [4]
The financing follows Fasset's $51 million Series B in May and brings the company's total funding raised in 2026 to $119 million, Fasset said Monday.
- [5]
Fasset will also fund AI systems that route transactions based on cost, speed and availability.
- [6]
In 2023 Fasset became one of the first companies licensed by Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, and has also secured approvals in Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkiye and Malaysia.
- [7]
Fasset reports more than $40 billion in annualized transaction volume; at the time of its May Series B that figure stood at $32 billion.
- [8]
SBI already holds positions in Ripple, Circle and DeFi lender Morpho, and owns liquidity provider B2C2.
- [9]
SBI and Fasset already work together through SBI Remit, the group's remittance arm, which reaches roughly 470,000 locations and handles bank transfers to about 200 countries.
- [10]
Hossain said the plan is to connect more payment systems across Japan, Asia and other emerging markets.
- [11]
Fasset says it serves over 3 million wallets and more than 1,000 enterprises in 125 countries.
- [12]
CEO Mohammad Raafi Hossain, who co-founded Fasset in 2019 with Daniel Ahmed, said revenue has grown roughly 6x year over year and the company has been profitable for 12 straight months, but the company did not disclose absolute revenue or profit numbers.
- [13]
Yoshitaka Kitao, chairman and CEO of SBI Holdings (TYO: 8473), said the investment will help connect Japan to faster-growing economies, with the goal of making stablecoin payments easier across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
- [14]
Speedinvest, an early backer, also joined the round.
- [15]
SBI Holdings said it made an additional investment in Fasset after first investing in the company in May, and did not disclose the size of its latest investment.
- [16]
SBI said it plans to increase its stake in Fasset through the exercise of warrants after the Series C round closes, with Fasset expected to become an equity-method affiliate of the group.
- [17]
The companies plan to jointly operate a digital bank in Malaysia and to distribute Fasset-issued tokens, according to SBI.
- [18]
Fasset's annualized transaction volume rose by about $8 billion, or roughly 25 percent, between the May Series B and this round.
- [19]
Fasset has built Shariah-compliant products tied to stablecoins, gold, equities and sukuk in several of those countries.
- [20]
Fasset's round is the third Series C SBI has led since early July, after a $76 million round for market operator EDX Markets on 7 July and a $125 million raise for risk platform Gauntlet two days later; across the three deals SBI has committed roughly $269 million.
- [21]
Cointelegraph, in a related item, reports that SBI acquired Singaporean crypto platform Coinhako after MAS approval.
- [22]
A $1 billion valuation against more than $40 billion in annualized transaction volume equals about 2.5 cents of equity value per dollar of annual flow.
- [23]
The three SBI-led Series C rounds sum to $269 million, matching the roughly $269 million total reported.
Sources
4 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- cointelegraph.comJapan’s SBI leads $68M Fasset round at $1B valuation
1 article · August 24, 2026
- crowdfundinsider.comFasset Reaches $1B Valuation with SBI Group Backing its Stablecoin Payments Expansion Efforts
1 article · August 24, 2026
- cryptobriefing.comFasset achieves $1B valuation with SBI backing for payments expansion
1 article · August 24, 2026
- cryptopolitan.comFasset raises $68 million in SBI-led round, reaching $1 billion valuation
1 article · August 24, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Stablecoin Payments Infrastructure
- Cross-border remittance corridors
- Shariah-compliant digital finance
- Digital asset licensing in emerging markets
- Crypto infrastructure venture funding
- Regulated layer-2 networks