Tether, the preeminent company in the digital asset industry, has announced its lead role in an $8 million strategic funding round for Speed, a payments infrastructure firm revolutionizing instant global settlements. The investment, made alongside ego death capital, marks a significant move to merge the speed of the Bitcoin Lightning Network with the stability of the world’s most liquid stablecoin, USDT.
Bridging the Gap: Speed and Stability
The partnership is built on the premise that while Bitcoin’s Lightning Network offers near-instant and low-cost transactions, merchants and users still require the price stability of a digital dollar. Speed’s infrastructure solves this by allowing:
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Native BTC and USDT Settlement: Seamlessly moving value through Lightning while settling in stablecoins to mitigate volatility.
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Enterprise-Grade Scalability: Supporting complex payment flows for businesses, from point-of-sale systems to global platform settlements.
Exceptional Growth and Real-World Adoption
Founded by serial entrepreneurs Niraj Patel and Jayneel Patel (formerly of SaaS platform Orderhive), Speed has quickly moved from prototype to a global payment layer. The company currently reports:
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$1.5 Billion+ in annual payment volume.
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1.2 Million users and businesses served.
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High-Volume Success: Notably, the restaurant chain Steak ‘n Shake recently integrated Speed’s infrastructure, reporting a 50% reduction in processing fees and double-digit sales growth through Lightning payments.
Strategic Alignment
For Tether, this investment is part of a broader mission to move cryptocurrency from speculation to everyday utility.
“Speed is demonstrating what Lightning can achieve when paired with a stable, liquid digital dollar like USDT,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO
By: Vanshika Tayal
