Making money moves in the digital age

A startup called Fun just bagged $72 million to help regular apps handle digital cash and crypto. The money came from big names like Multicoin Capital and SignalFire, plus some smaller investors. Fun’s boss, Fine, won’t say how much the company is worth now. Fun already raised $3. 9 million back in 2022, but the first round stayed quiet until now. Fun’s main job is to act as a bridge between real money and crypto. Instead of forcing users to jump through hoops with exchanges or banks, Fun lets apps like Meta, Stripe, and Shopify add crypto payments straight into their systems. Fine thinks this is just the beginning. He believes more non-crypto companies will join the crypto party, especially as rules start to loosen up under the current administration.Fine dropped out of Stanford in 2020 and spent the next two years testing startup ideas. He finally landed on blockchains as the future of finance. "Imagine moving from paper files and old databases to digital ledgers holding trillions, " he said. The name Fun was chosen not just because it’s catchy, but because Fine already owned the domain and the X handle. He wanted a name people would remember. Fun’s work is serious business. It works behind the scenes with engineers to build payment systems for apps like Polymarket, Lighter, and Aave. Last year, Fun handled over $18 billion in payments without anyone noticing. Spencer Applebaum from Multicoin says Fun is in a great spot to help traditional fintech companies add crypto payments too. Right now, Fun has more than 20 clients but won’t say how much money it makes or if it’s profitable. Fine plans to use the new cash to hire more staff—nearly 30 people already work there. His goal? To become the go-to platform for this new digital economy.