Alta raises $47.5M for blockchain backed by crypto skeptic Jack Zhang

Blockchain startup Alta has raised $47.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Index Ventures to develop payment infrastructure for banks and financial institutions, bringing its total funding to $80 million.

Summary

• Alta raised $47.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Index Ventures, bringing its total funding to $80 million as it develops blockchain infrastructure for banks and financial institutions.
• Alta is developing a Layer 1 blockchain with built in privacy and compliance features that allow financial institutions to control transactions and protect sensitive customer information.
• Airwallex plans to integrate its global payments infrastructure with Alta, potentially connecting stablecoin transactions to local payment networks across 200 countries and 90 currencies.
• Alta enters a market where established payment companies, including Stripe, are developing blockchain networks to support stablecoin settlements and international transfers.

According to the company's November 10 announcement, the latest round included participation from GV, formerly Google Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg, and Capital49, a venture capital firm established by the founders of payments company Airwallex.

The funding follows an earlier $32.5 million seed round backed primarily by Airwallex, whose cofounder and CEO Jack Zhang helped establish Alta despite previously questioning the usefulness of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

Alta, formerly known as Metal, is developing its own Layer 1 blockchain with built-in privacy and compliance features designed to help financial institutions transfer money and other assets across borders.

Airwallex CEO Jack Zhang previously questioned crypto's usefulness

Zhang's involvement in Alta comes after years of publicly questioning whether cryptocurrencies offered meaningful advantages over existing financial technology.

In a June 2025 LinkedIn post, Zhang said he had not seen a meaningful real-world use case for cryptocurrencies despite the technology having existed for approximately 15 years.

"Crypto is an area I've never been able to understand. After 15 years, I still haven't seen a single use case where crypto has meaningfully helped solve a real problem (apart from some emerging markets in Africa and Latam). Lots of people got wealthy because they bought crypto, i get it. Crypto is more like a religion than technology," Zhang said at the time.

He maintained a similar position on stablecoins as recently as March 2026, arguing that Airwallex could already move money faster and more cheaply using its existing payment infrastructure.

His position appears to have changed as Airwallex began exploring blockchain technology to support international payments and growing customer demand for stablecoins.

Forbes reported in October that Zhang had been considering establishing a blockchain company earlier this year when he met Loong Wang through a mutual friend. The two eventually agreed to start a venture together.

Zhang is now listed as an Alta cofounder alongside Wang, who serves as CEO, and Catherine Porter, a former Meta executive who worked on the company's abandoned cryptocurrency initiative.

Airwallex has since become both an investor and an early design partner for Alta, with plans to connect its global payments infrastructure to the new blockchain.

The collaboration is expected to support stablecoin deposits and withdrawals alongside access to local payment networks across 200 countries and 90 currencies.

"With the rise of agentic banking and programmable payments, stablecoins are becoming an important vector for settlement," Zhang said in the funding announcement.

Alta blockchain targets privacy and compliance for banks

Alta is developing a blockchain that allows financial institutions to process transactions while maintaining controls over sensitive information and the parties they transact with.

Its architecture uses recursive zero-knowledge cryptography, which the company says can verify compliance requirements without publicly exposing transaction balances, customer identities, or internal policies.

Wang told Fortune that existing blockchain networks, including those already used for financial transactions, lack the combination of privacy and regulatory controls required by major financial institutions.

"We often say we wouldn't have built an L-1 if we didn't have to," Wang said.

One feature would allow institutions to reject unwanted transfers from external wallet addresses, addressing a limitation of public blockchains where users can receive tokens without approving the sender.

Alta's first planned product will focus on helping businesses reduce the money they must hold in prefunded accounts to support international transactions.

The company estimates that approximately $4 trillion is tied up in such accounts globally.

Its proposed system would allow businesses to access funds when needed, conduct foreign exchange transactions, and move unused balances into yield-bearing tokenized assets.

Alta plans to use its latest financing to develop the blockchain, establish additional institutional partnerships, and expand its engineering and compliance teams.

Payment companies are building their own blockchain networks

Alta enters a market where established payments companies are already developing blockchain infrastructure for international transfers and corporate finance.

Stripe and crypto investment firm Paradigm launched the Tempo mainnet in March, introducing a Layer 1 network designed for stablecoin payments and transactions between AI agents.

Tempo subsequently integrated Morpho lending in May, giving businesses access to decentralized lending markets through the payments network.

Institutional adoption has extended to existing public blockchains. In September, U.S. Bank completed a cross-border stablecoin payment between its North American and European operations using Stellar.

Alta CEO Wang previously founded Republic Protocol, later renamed Ren, which was acquired by Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research in 2021.

He subsequently established QDX, a company focused on quantum computing applications in drug discovery, before returning to blockchain development.

Alta currently employs approximately 25 people across San Francisco and Melbourne. The company has not disclosed its valuation following the latest financing.