Enterprise capital large Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is main a $12.9 million funding spherical for ZAR, a one-year-old fintech startup aiming to make dollar-backed stablecoins accessible to on a regular basis shoppers in Pakistan and different rising markets.
The spherical drew participation from Dragonfly Capital, VanEck Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst, in accordance to a Tuesday report by Bloomberg. The startup is focusing on Pakistan’s 240 million individuals, the place the World Financial institution estimates over 100 million adults stay unbanked.
In contrast to many crypto corporations centered on apps or international exchanges, ZAR plans to distribute stablecoins by means of native shops, telephone kiosks and cash brokers, the identical community used for cellular top-ups and remittances.
The corporate mentioned it hopes this method will assist residents entry dollar-backed digital cash with out requiring them to know blockchain or crypto expertise, per the report.
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ZAR lets customers swap money for stablecoins
Customers can enter a taking part store, scan a QR code and alternate money for stablecoins saved in a cellular pockets related to a Visa card usable worldwide. ZAR launched its platform earlier this 12 months and mentioned it’s seeing sturdy early traction in Pakistan’s city facilities.
ZAR was co-founded by Sebastian Scholl and Brandon Timinsky, who offered their cellular pockets startup SadaPay to Turkey’s Papara in 2024. The corporate has raised $20 million in complete and plans to broaden its mannequin to African markets in 2026 if the pilot in Pakistan proves profitable.
The funding comes as Pakistan strikes towards regulating digital property. Earlier this 12 months, the federal government launched the Pakistan Digital Property Regulatory Authority (PVARA), a physique tasked with overseeing the nation’s digital asset business.
Final month, Pakistan additionally opened the door to worldwide crypto companies, inviting main exchanges and digital asset service suppliers (VASPs) to use for licenses underneath a brand new federal regime.
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Pakistan ranks excessive in international crypto adoption
As Cointelegraph reported, Pakistan surged to 3rd place in Chainalysis’ 2025 World Crypto Adoption Index, climbing six spots and rising as one of many world’s fastest-growing crypto markets.
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