Ark Labs raises $5.2M from Tether to add stablecoins on Bitcoin

Ark Labs has raised $5.2 million in seed financing led by Tether to expand stablecoin and digital asset support on Arkade, its Bitcoin-focused infrastructure platform. The company is building tools for developers creating payments, lending and settlement applications on Bitcoin.

The round drew capital from Ego Death Capital, Epoch VC, Lion26, Sats Ventures and Contribution Capital. Anchorage Digital joined, along with angel backers that include Ralph Ho, former vice president of finance at PayPal. Ark Labs plans to use the funding to extend Arkade’s features, onboard partners and grow tools that let companies issue, move and settle assets on Bitcoin.

The new financing lifts Ark Labs’ institutional funding above $7.7 million. Earlier investors include Draper Associates, Fulgur Ventures and Axiom Capital.

Arkade targets a long-discussed gap in Bitcoin: limited native programmability for financial operations. The platform is designed as an execution layer with functions such as transaction authorization, escrow, conditional spending and payment holds, enabling activity beyond simple transfers.

Developers testing Arkade are working on retail payments, lending markets and cross-network settlement between blockchains. The company is also collaborating with teams building “autonomous commerce,” where software agents conduct transactions under defined spending rules and programmable controls.

Marco Argentieri, CEO of Ark Labs, noted:

“Bitcoin is the most liquid digital asset in the world, but it has lacked the programmable infrastructure that financial applications require. Our partners are building payments, lending, and digital asset solutions on Bitcoin, and Tether’s involvement will help accelerate those efforts.”

Tether’s participation aligns with efforts to expand stablecoin activity linked to Bitcoin. Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, stated: “Stablecoins were born on Bitcoin, and expanding access on the Bitcoin network remains a priority for us. Infrastructure that makes it easier to issue, move, and settle stablecoins directly on Bitcoin can support broader access to digital dollars.”

Ark Labs intends to scale its developer relations team, refine product tooling and support partners launching production-ready applications. Alex Bergeron, head of ecosystem at Ark Labs, added: “Every fintech building digital products faces the same question: whose infrastructure do you depend on? On many networks that infrastructure is controlled by a single company. Our goal is to offer an open alternative built around Bitcoin.”