a16z leads a funding round for a startup that is exploring the use of stablecoins in Pakistan and other emerging countries through neighborhood stores.
Summary
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is leading a $12.9 million funding round for Zar, a fintech startup founded in 2024 that enables cash-to-stablecoin conversions through local agents in emerging markets.
- According to a16z’s State of Crypto 2025 report, stablecoin transactions surpassed $46 trillion over the past year, nearly triple Visa’s volume, as adoption rises alongside improved blockchain infrastructure.
According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Andreessen Horowitz is spearheading funding for a fairly new startup called Zar that seeks to help countries with high unbanked populations to use stablecoins. At the moment, the firm aims to test out dollar-backed digital coins in Pakistan, which has the third-largest unbanked population according to the World Bank.
In a statement shared by the firm, Zar recently raised as much as $12.9 million in a financing round involving major capital ventures including Dragonfly Capital, VanEck Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst.
Established in 2024 by Brandon Timinsky and Sebastian Scholl, Zar is a fintech and crypto startup. It aims to enable cash-to-stablecoin conversions via physical agents such as local corner shops in neighborhoods within emerging countries.
The way that the startup operates is by employing thousands of mobile phone kiosks, convenience stores and money agents to facilitate cash-to-stablecoin conversations. Users can walk into a local shop, scan a QR code to download the platform and hand over cash to the storekeeper in exchange for stablecoins that will pop up in the user’s mobile wallet.
The startup specifically targets emerging countries with significant cash usage and less stable currencies, such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Argentina, and 20 other count
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Author: Trisha Husada
