Cryptocurrency-focused business payments platform Tribal Credit has finalized a $ 40 million debt offering that was financed through fiat and stablecoins, giving the company additional capital to expand its business services in Latin America.
The so-called hybrid debt round was funded by Partners for Growth, a California-based investment firm, and the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), which is a non-profit organization that supports the growth of the Stellar blockchain. Tribal said it will use the capital to fund accounts receivable from its customer base throughout Latin America, especially in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru.
Tribal COO Duane Good explained to Cointelegraph that financing the accounts receivable from its customer base means that “Tribal can use debt service to help customers” in the countries mentioned. In other words, “this new debt facility will be used to support our clients’ spending on the Tribal platform.”
When asked about the mechanics of the hybrid debt increase, Good explained that “a part of the debt mechanism was established with SDF and financed through USDC.” A traditional debt service, by contrast, “is an arrangement with institutional lenders that allows a financial services company to draw on the service to support the underlying credit needs of its portfolio.”
Launched in 2016, Tribal Credit provides credit cards and other forms of financing to startups in emerging markets. The company also employs a cross-border payment system backed by cryptocurrency exchange Bitso that allows companies to convert the local currency into Stellar’s stablecoin USDC. Integration with the Stellar blockchain began in April 2021 after Tribal received $ 3 million from the Stellar Development Foundation.
“Mexico could be another example of a country adopting cryptocurrencies for remittances, as estimates have shown they could reduce costs by 50% to 90%.” – @ashady, CEO of Tribal. For more information, visit: https://t.co/g0oa3GvzZ4#TribalCredit
– Tribal Credit (@TribalCredit) October 22, 2021
Mexico could be another example of a country that adopts cryptocurrencies for remittances, as it is estimated that they could reduce costs between 50% and 90%. “
Tribal and others have identified small businesses as a major source of growth for cryptocurrency payments and remittances, especially in emerging markets where access to traditional financial services is often limited. World Bank data shows that small and medium-sized businesses in emerging markets create roughly seven out of 10 jobs, making their access to finance more important.