AI Bank Revolution: $18M Raised to Redefine Crypto Finance!

On May 20, 2025, Catena Labs, founded by Circle co-founder Sean Neville, secured $18 million in a seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, with backing from Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, and NFL star Tom Brady. Catena aims to build an “AI-native bank” integrating stablecoins like USDC for automated, low-cost global transactions. This could streamline payments and digital identity for AI-driven financial systems, potentially boosting stablecoin adoption. For crypto investors, this signals growing institutional interest in blending AI and blockchain, which could stabilize and expand markets like USDC, currently at a $30 billion market cap. However, regulatory hurdles and AI integration risks, like system reliability, loom large. For beginners, this highlights crypto’s evolving role in finance but underscores the need for caution due to market volatility and untested tech. Catena’s open-source Agent Commerce Kit may also spur innovation, making crypto more accessible.