In a major boost for the digital asset infrastructure sector, Mesh Connect has officially reached unicorn status following a successful $75 million funding round. The five-year-old startup, which acts as a bridge between hundreds of crypto exchanges and wallets, is now valued at $1 billion. This new capital injection was led by Dragonfly Capital, with significant participation from heavyweights including Coinbase Ventures (COIN), Paradigm, and PayPal Ventures (PYPL).
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Azizi Predicts Fragmented Tokenized Future
CEO and co-founder Bam Azizi believes that while the world is moving toward digital assets, the sheer number of different platforms will create a confusing mess for the average user. Mesh’s goal is to hide that complexity behind the scenes so that payments feel as smooth as using a traditional credit card.
“We strongly believe that the future of the economy is tokenized, and this tokenized economy will be heavily fragmented,” Azizi said.
Azizi argues that businesses and consumers “need something like Mesh that abstracts all of that complexity.” By acting as the “glue” between these systems, Mesh allows a user to hold Bitcoin in one place and spend it instantly somewhere else, while the merchant receives exactly what they want—whether that is U.S. dollars or a stablecoin.
PayPal Powers Native Crypto Payments
One of the most significant validations for Mesh comes from its deep partnership with PayPal. The payments giant uses Mesh’s “SmartFunding” technology to allow customers to pay for items using their existing crypto balances. This system doesn’t just move the coins; it handles the instant conversion into PYUSD (PayPal’s stablecoin) or traditional fiat currency so that merchants face zero volatility risk.
This partnership has helped drive massive growth. Rob Hadick, a general partner at Dragonfly Capital, noted that while there were many sign-ups a year ago, the actual volume has only recently started to explode. Mesh now processes nearly $10 billion in monthly volume, a figure that helped justify the new $1 billion valuation.
Genius Act Boosts Investor Confidence
A major catalyst for this recent success was the passage of the Genius Act in July 2025. This federal legislation provided the first clear rules for stablecoins in the United States, giving large companies the confidence to finally build crypto-native products. According to Hadick, this regulatory green light has directly influenced how businesses are willing to build their products, leading to better user experiences and higher adoption.
In simple terms, Mesh Connect is trying to do for crypto what Plaid did for bank accounts, making them talk to each other so you can actually use your money.
