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The payments industry has long operated on legacy infrastructure that is slow and fragmented. Cross-border transactions can be costly and inefficient, settlement cycles tie up working capital, and launching card programs across multiple markets remains a complex, multi-year undertaking. As global adoption grows and regulatory clarity solidifies, tokenized assets, such as stablecoins, are emerging as a credible alternative to disrupt the status quo.
That’s why we’re thrilled to partner with Rain and lead the company’s Series C to support their mission to become the global platform powering the next generation of payments infrastructure.
What we believe sets Rain apart is the breadth and depth of its platform. Rain enables customers to issue cards, provide wallets, and orchestrate digital asset movement globally – all through a single partner. As a Visa Principal Member, Rain issues and settles directly on the Visa network without relying on intermediaries. This vertically integrated model combines modern, programmable infrastructure with the licensing, risk management, and compliance capabilities required to operate at scale.
Rain’s approach is grounded in a simple but powerful belief: the future of tokenized payments isn’t about forcing new user behavior, it's about delivering better outcomes through familiar experiences. Businesses and consumers shouldn’t need to understand blockchain mechanics to benefit from faster settlement, lower costs, or global reach. Rain abstracts away this complexity. The result is financial products that can feel intuitive on the surface, while being powered by modern, on-chain infrastructure underneath.
Their philosophy appears to be resonating with customers in a meaningful way. Rain now processes over $3 billion in annualized transaction volume across 200+ partners and its active card base is growing 30x year-over-year. Western Union announced its partnership with Rain to enable instant conversion of stablecoins into local cash payouts at participating locations. Another partner, Meru, allows customers in Latin America to convert their local currency into dollar-backed stablecoins and spend them like fiat dollars using Rain-powered cards. In our conversations, customers consistently highlighted Rain's speed to market, regulatory credibility, and direct Visa relationship as key differentiators for choosing Rain as their primary payments infrastructure partner.
We believe Rain’s leadership brings rare clarity and rigor to a fast-moving market. We’ve been deeply impressed by the discipline, and long-term vision that co-founders Farooq Malik and Charles Yoo-Naut bring to Rain. They’ve worked to build the company for durability, combining deep technical strength with a disciplined posture on risk, compliance, and global growth. The result is a platform designed to scale responsibly as tokenized assets become core to the global financial system.
We are proud to welcome Farooq, Charles, and the entire Rain team to the ICONIQ community, and we are excited to support them in their mission to build the leading infrastructure for global on-chain payments.
Published:
January 9, 2026
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