July 14, 2026 – tetherThe company, the largest company in the digital asset ecosystem, today announced that it has led a $7 million Series A funding round in Pact Labs with participation from Blockchange Ventures and Lasagna. This investment will support Pact Labs’ development as USA₮’s core infrastructure provider across payroll, wage access, credit and daily payments.
Through this investment, Tether aims to expand the utility of USA₮ by directly integrating a digital dollar designed to comply with U.S. regulations into the financial system used by American workers and businesses. Pact Labs’ infrastructure enables you to embed digital wallets into enterprise platforms, move wages in real-time, and deliver financial services without relying on the delays and operational limitations of traditional payment rails.
The U.S. payroll system moves more than $11 trillion annually, but much of its underlying infrastructure was designed decades ago. Workers may wait days or even weeks to access wages they have already earned, and delays in the payroll cycle can result in overdraft fees, short-term borrowing, and other avoidable financial costs.
By supporting payroll and access to earned wages through Pact Labs, USA₮ is able to enable employers and financial platforms to operate around the clock while giving workers faster access to their income. The collaboration aims to enable users to leverage digital dollars within familiar, everyday financial experiences, rather than navigating separate or highly technical systems.
“This confirms what our transaction data has shown for years: demand for dollar payments is a question of wages,” he said. Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “Workers in emerging markets have been using USD₮ for years to close pay gaps, first due to failures in domestic systems. We are now using USA₮ to build the same capabilities in the U.S. market, because even a functional system built on batch processing would mean unnecessary costs for those least able to absorb the costs.”
“USA₮ serves real people, and nothing is more real than a paycheck.” Beau Hines, Tether USA₮ CEO. “Pact Labs gives us the rails to put a digital dollar designed to comply with U.S. regulations directly into the hands of millions of American workers, faster, cheaper, and without middlemen that slow them down.”
This investment advances Tether’s strategy to support the infrastructure that brings digital funds to practical high-frequency use cases. Payroll represents one of the largest and most ubiquitous financial flows in the United States, creating an opportunity for stablecoin technology to improve the way people receive, hold, and spend money.
About America₮
USA₮ is a dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, NA, co-launched by Tether, a global leader in stablecoin technology. Built to serve the U.S. market and support U.S. regulatory standards, USA₮ will be the foundational rails for the next generation of U.S. commerce, trade, and finance.
USA₮ highlights Tether’s commitment to advancing U.S. advantage and leadership in the evolving digital asset economy. USA₮ sets a new benchmark in the United States for utility-driven stablecoins designed to provide long-term value, strong governance, and real-world applications. https://usat.io/
